Wolves of Stone Ridge 05 - Finding Balance

Out of the cage: Sometimes you don’t need a leash to bind two beings together.

Todd Abernathy spent three weeks in a cage. Experimented on by scientists, he retreated deep

into  his  wolf  to  survive.  The  night  of  his  rescue,  the  scent  of  his  mate  was  the  only  thing  that
convinced  him  to  return  to  human  form.  Small  for  a  wolf  shifter,  it  didn’t  surprise  Todd  when  his
brother Phillip insisted on joining the local wolf pack with him. His larger, younger half-brother had
felt responsible for him since puberty. But Phillip couldn’t help him find the mate he’d scented, and
when  Todd  finally  figured  out  that  Detective  Lyle  Sullivan  was  the  man  he  was  searching  for,  the
human had been captured by the same men who’d experimented on Todd.

Lyle’s escape almost comes too late, because the experiments done to him scramble his DNA,

nearly killing him. The only way to save Lyle is to complete the experimental procedure the scientists
started on him. Todd’s relief that the recovering Lyle recognizes him as his mate is short-lived. Lyle
starts exhibiting increasingly aggressive and dangerous tendencies. Can Todd find a way to help his
mate accept what’s happening to him and teach him how to co-exist with the new creature living
inside his mind? Or will Lyle lose himself to the beast and force his friends to put him down?

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Finding Balance

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“W

ho is he?”

Lyle forced the words out of his dry, scratchy throat and struggled to keep conscious long enough

to wait for the answer. Every time he’d managed to drag his mind to wakefulness, he’d seen the cute
brunet that reminded him of an angel. Sometimes he’d be singing softly to Lyle, holding his hand.
Sometimes he’d be reading a book to him, although he couldn’t remember even one of the stories.
And sometimes, like now, he’d be curled up in a chair by Lyle’s bed fast asleep.

But he didn’t know the man.

“His  name  is  Todd  Abernathy.”  Doctor  Ailean  Carmichael  crossed  the  small  room  and  started
checking equipment. “Welcome back,” he added with a smile.
Lyle barely managed to crinkle his brow, but even that movement sent pain coursing through his skull.
He couldn’t place the name. “Should I know him?” The idea that he’d lost some of his memories in
the hellhole he’d been kept in for however long it was sent spikes of panic through him.
Monitors beeped and Ailean spun from where he was reading vitals and leaned over Lyle. He found
his gaze pinned by the shifter’s light brown eyes. “Take slow, deep breaths. You’ve never met him.
He’s pack.”
Pack. And he’d never met him. Relief slowly seeped into Lyle and his eyes slid closed. “What’s he
doing here?” he scraped out. Then he forced his eyes back open as he stared at Todd in a new light.
“He looks a little small to be a bodyguard.”
Ailean  chuckled,  straightening.  “He’s  not  a  bodyguard.” Ailean  followed  Lyle’s  gaze  and  stared  at
Todd. “Todd is one of the shifters you all rescued from the warehouse,” he explained. “He stayed in
the area because he recognized his mate’s scent. It just took him a while to find you.”
His head swam and he swallowed hard. What the hell is Ailean telling me?“Huh?”
A  spoon  filled  with  a  couple  ice  chips  appeared  before  him.  He  opened,  gratefully  accepting  the
offering.  He  rolled  the  ice  around  his  mouth  twice  before  letting  it  settle  on  his  tongue  and  slowly
melt. It hurt to swallow the liquid, but the moisture was well worth the discomfort.
“Todd is convinced you’re his mate, Lyle, and from the way you’ve been reacting to his presence, I
believe he’s correct,” Ailean said, holding out another spoonful of ice.
“I’ve been unconscious. I haven’t been awake to react,” he denied before taking the offered ice again.
“Sometimes,  how  we  respond unconsciously  is  very  telling,”  Ailean  commented.  “You’re  much
calmer when Todd’s here, and since he refuses to leave, it has worked out very well.”
He  could  feel  his  eyes  getting  heavy  again.  He  wouldn’t  be  able  to  stay  awake  much  longer.  Lyle
decided he’d try to figure out the whole mate issue later. “How long?” he managed to ask.
Ailean grimaced. “You were held captive for two weeks. You were in Colin City Hospital for seven
days. We moved you to Declan and Lark’s place two days ago, which is when I stopped giving you
sedatives. Grady will be pleased you’ve finally woken. We were getting concerned.” Moving away,
he  checked  the  monitors  again  before  crossing  back  to  him.  “Are  you  in  any  pain?  How  do  you…
feel?”
The way the doctor asked the questions raised Lyle’s internal alarms, but he was too tired to work it
out. “Like I’ve been fucked, and not in a good way. So cold,” he muttered, shivering. His eyes slid
closed. He felt the weight of another blanket being settled and tucked around him, warming him.
There was so much to think about, but he needed a nap first. Just a short one.

The next time he woke, itching pain radiated up his left arm. It felt worse than the nasty bout of

poison oak he’d had when he was twelve. He’d never thought anything could sting that badly. He was
wrong, and Lyle immediately began to rub the offending skin against the blanket. It didn’t help.
Grunting in frustration, he pried his eyes open and stared at the irritated flesh.

His eyes widened in shock and he couldn’t hold in the startled squeak. His breathing picked up as

panic shot through him. “Doc!” he screamed. “Doc!” He jerked forward, pulling wires and setting off
monitors.

Hands instantly gripped his shoulders, easing him back down onto the bed. Beautiful brown eyes

filled with concern captured his gaze, and the face of the man he thought of as his guardian angel
stared down at him. “Easy, love,” the man crooned. “Everything is fine.”

“Angel,” he gasped. Even as he allowed Todd to settle him back on the bed, he tore his gaze away

and stared down at the brownish green skin covering the entire inside of his forearm and palm of his
left arm. “What’s wrong with me?”

Fingers feathered through his hair, massaging his scalp. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong with you,”

Todd assured.
Lyle shook his head in disbelief, opening his mouth to protest. The door slamming open cut him off.
Lark rushed into the room while a wide-eyed Sara hovered in the doorway. Reaching the bed, Lark
slid to a stop and stared down at him.
“Holy shit. You scared the life out of us. What’s wrong?” he asked, his gaze sweeping over him.
“What’s wrong?” Lyle snapped. He glanced between the two men, taking in Lark’s confused look and
Todd’s worried expression. “This, Doc! What the fuck is this?” He turned his arm over and lifted his
arm. “Oh my god,” he gasped, seeing that the crusty skin now extended up the inside of his elbow as
well.
Panic hit again and he feverishly scratched at the itchy skin. When he realized he could hardly feel his
nails on the strange rough texture, his breathing escalated and he couldn’t stop the howl of distress.
Lark  spun  around,  muttering  a  curse  as  he  grabbed  for  a  vial,  needle  and  syringe.  “Hang  on,”  he
grunted, inserting the needle into the port and dispensing it. “Focus on your mate,” he ordered.
Lyle  frowned,  the  words  distracting  him.  Does  everyone  know  about  this  mate  thing  but  me?  He
turned and glared at Todd. He opened his mouth, but Todd beat him to it.
“I can explain,” he said, his tone smooth and soothing. “Right now I need you to listen. You have to
calm down.”
He wanted to tell Todd exactly what he thought of that idea, but the words stuck in his throat. How the
hell am I supposed to calm down when I have some kind of itchy skin irritation spreading over my
arm?
Todd gripped his head and forced him to focus on his handsome face. “Take a slow, deep breath,” he
ordered. “Then close your eyes and focus on the sound of my voice.”
Seconds  later,  Lyle  found  himself  following  Todd’s  orders.  “Good,”  the  beautiful  man  whispered.
“Now think about your job at the office.” His crinkling brow must have alerted Todd to his confusion
because  he  kept  talking.  “You’re  sitting  at  your  desk. You’re  filling  out  paperwork. You’re  typing
information into your computer.”
To his surprise, as he visualized himself working on the mundane tasks that made up the behind-the-
scenes work of a detective, his breathing slowed and calm filled him. Slowly, the itching faded and
relief flooded his body.
“There. That’s better,” Lark whispered.
Lyle pried his eyes back open to find a concerned smile curving Todd’s lips. Fighting the fatigue that
tried to swamp him again, he moved his head and looked at his arm. The odd rash had disappeared.

“What happened?” he asked, frowning. “What’d ya give me, Doc?”
“Only a sedative to help you relax,” Lark said, lifting a brow as he tilted his chin toward Todd.
The pretty brunet’s smile turned sad. He cupped Lyle’s jaw and kissed his forehead. “Those scientists
made  changes  to  your  body,  my  mate.  Nothing  life  threatening,  now  that  Drake  corrected  what  they
gave  you,”  he  hurried  to  explain,  “but  you’re  a  shifter  now. You’ll  need  to  learn  to…control…the
animal that will slowly emerge.”
“Holy  shit!”  he  hissed.  “A  shifter?”  His  heart  began  to  race  again  as  he  glanced  between  the  men.
“How the hell did that happen? What kind?”
Todd’s hand rifling through his hair calmed him, and wasn’t that just the damnedest thing?
“We’re not sure. It’s a bit of a long story, and when you’re feeling up to it, we’ll explain everything.”
The  man’s  soft  voice  lulled  his  senses  and  Lyle  felt  himself  begin  to  drift  again.  “Humans  can’t  be
turned  into  shifters,”  he  murmured  after  a  moment.  “Grady  told  me  so.”  The  hand  paused  for  just  a
second, but it was enough to cut through his lethargy.
“I’m sorry, love,” Todd’s soft voice whispered. “Someone’s found a way to change that.”
Lyle’s eyes snapped back open. “You’re lying,” he snarled. A rage he’d never felt before filled him.
“I’m not a shifter. I’m a human being. A detective.” He shoved off the man’s hand and tried to force
his body into a sitting position. This is crazy! He had to get out of here. He had to find Grady. His
partner would give him straight answers.
To his surprise, his legs and arms responded with no problem. The colors of the objects in the room
began to subtly change, brightening, tones becoming more vivid. He suddenly felt stronger, more sure.
He moved to swing his legs over the side of the bed.
“Shit, he’s starting to shift.”
He ignored Lark’s ridiculous words and tried to stand. Strong arms wrapped around him from behind,
trying to force him back down on the bed. He growled and struggled, trying to get away. A lean chest
pressed against his back and a heady, earthy scent filled his nostrils. He stilled and turned his head,
inhaling more deeply the smell of the man behind him. His cock stirred, filling quickly, thickening and
tenting the hospital gown he wore.
Turning in Todd’s grip, he met the wide-eyed, shocked gaze of the man who held him. “Nice,” Lyle
growled, his voice rougher than he’d ever heard it.
With a burst of strength, fueled by his sudden lust, Lyle twisted around and pinned Todd onto the bed.
“You  smell  good.”  His  hands  skimmed  over  the  slender  form  under  him  while  he  rubbed  his
throbbing cock against the man’s thigh. “I want you.” He’d never been ruled by his dick before, but
burying  his  shaft  inside  this  angel’s  body  seemed  to  be  the  most  important  thing  in  the  world  right
then, and fuck the others in the room.
“Okay,” Todd replied, his breath coming in rough pants.
A  feral  growl  rumbled  through  his  chest  as  excitement  unlike  any  other  coursed  through  his  body.
When Todd tilted his head in obvious submission, Lyle buried his face in the smaller man’s neck and
started  nibbling  a  wet  line  up  the  tendons.  Lyle  slid  a  hand  down  Todd’s  side,  finding  toned  skin
stretched over ribs and firm abs.
Suddenly, a sharp sting shot through his shoulder. He snapped his head up and growled at Lark, who
was  just  pulling  a  needle  from  his  body.  Before  he  could  move,  darkness  swamped  him  and  he
collapsed on top of his sexy angel.

Chapter Two

odd let out a strangled breath as Lyle’s full weight settled over him. His gaze met Lark’s worried

blue eyes, and the two men maneuvered the detective off him. Grunting, he slid off the bed and helped
right his mate under the covers. He tried to ignore the pressure his suddenly too tight denim applied to
his throbbing cock. He’d so wanted to allow Lyle to have his way with him, but he knew the man
wasn’t actually in control. His animal was. “Are you all right?” Lark asked softly.

Running a hand through his thick dark hair, he nodded then forced a crooked grin. “That was

interesting.
Lark chuckled. “Well, I guess that answers the question about whether or not his animal will come
out, huh? And did you see his eyes? Definitely reptilian.”
“Yeah, but we still don’t know what kind of reptile. After seeing the almost leathery look of his skin,
I sure hope Drake’s right and he’s not a snake!”
“Not a fan of snakes?” Lark teased as he double-checked Lyle’s vitals, making certain the sedative
hadn’t harmed him.
Todd grimaced. “They’re fine, I guess. I just wouldn’t want to wake up next to one,” he admitted.
“Yeah, me neither.”
“How will we convince him he’s now a shifter?” Todd asked, worry lacing his voice.
Lark headed toward the door, Todd following slowly. “He’ll come back around this evening. I’ll ask
the guys to be available to talk to him. Maybe he’ll believe them, since he’s known them for years.”
He wrapped an arm around Sara’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Don’t worry, sweetie.
Everything will be fine.”
Watching from the doorway as the pair made their way down the hall, Todd wished he could believe
that.

Todd was having the best dream. His mate leaned over him, a heated gleam filling his dark

chocolate eyes. Lyle knelt between his legs, unbuttoned his jeans, only to tease Todd by lowering his
zipper with agonizing slowness. Gripping the arms of his chair, he bucked up into the touch, desperate
for pressure on his aching erection, but Lyle jerked his hands away, leaving him wanting.

Letting out a frustrated groan, he begged with his eyes. Lyle gave him a lascivious wink, then

leaned down and took the zipper into his mouth, lowering it the rest of the way.

Heat from Lyle’s breath saturated through his jeans and boxers, sending delicious tingles up his

shaft. A bead of precum leaked from his slit, soaking the fabric stretched around the head of his
sensitive cock. Lyle’s nostrils flared, telling Todd he’d caught the scent of his arousal. The man
pressed his nose against Todd’s groin, breathing deeply as he nudged aside the flaps of his pants to
reveal the slender erection cased in thin fabric.

Todd nearly came when Lyle pulled the head of his cock into his mouth, sucking the pre-cum

through the fabric. His hips bucked convulsively, threatening to unseat Lyle’s mouth. Lyle wrapped
one large hand around Todd’s hip, holding him in place. With the other hand, he fished out Todd’s
dick, sliding his slender rod through the hole of his boxers.

Lyle gave his erection one long, slow lick which sent tingles down to his balls, making them pull

tight to his body. He trembled, trying desperately not to come from just that feeling as he watched
Lyle’s sexy eyes glow with pleasure and desire.

“You want more, angel?” Lyle crooned.

Panting softly, his voice lost to him, Todd could only nod. Lyle grinned at his predicament, a smug

gleam entering

his eyes. As the man lowered his head and opened his mouth, a downstairs door slamming jerked

Todd out of the pleasant dream. To his shock, heat still enveloped his dick and his eyes popped open.

A startled gasp escaped him at the sight before him. Lyle had woken early, slipped out of bed and

now pleasured Todd’s cock. His pants were truly open, his boxers shoved down and Lyle’s hot, wet
mouth sucked hard on his shaft.

“Oh, god, Lyle,” he groaned. “You look so good with your lips around my dick.”

The man between his thighs lifted his gaze to meet his, arching a brow in amusement. Seconds later,
he broke the gaze and swallowed Todd’s cock to the root. He cried out in ecstasy as pleasure shot up
his spine, ricocheted off his skull and slammed back through his body to his balls. He trembled, his
hands convulsing on the grip of the chair as he struggled not to come.
Sensing his impending release, Lyle wrapped large hands under his ass, lifted him from the chair, and
deposited him on the bed, all without releasing Todd’s dick. He couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, and
sure as hell couldn’t raise any protest when his clothes were torn from his body, literally. He heard
fabric tear and shoes were tossed to gods knew where.
A tongue massaging his glans almost had Todd shooting, but Lyle’s rough hand cupped his nuts and
tugged them away from his body, easing his impending orgasm. Lyle gave one more hard, slow suck
on Todd’s cock and then he let it slip from his lips with an audible pop.
Trying desperately to catch his breath, his eyes widened when he watched Lyle crawl up his body,
eying him like a predator would its prey.
“I  want  to  lick  and  suck  every  inch  of  your  gorgeous  body,  Todd.  I  want  to  nibble  your  flesh  and
leave my mark on you.” His voice deepened to a low growl. “I want to spread your ass open and sink
my cock in so deep you’ll feel me in your throat.”
Lyle’s head lowered and he nuzzled Todd’s neck, breathing deeply. Todd tilted his neck, giving the
man greater access to the delicate tendons in his throat, submitting completely to his mate. A shudder
worked  through  him  as  he  felt  Lyle’s  tongue  lick  a  long  line  up  his  throat.  When  Lyle  settled  his
bigger body onto him, chest to chest, thigh to thigh, and cock to cock, he couldn’t hold back a deep
moan and a large dollop of pre-cum oozed from the head of his dick in anticipation.
Rocking his cock against him, their pre-ejaculate oozing between them, Lyle set up a slow, sensuous
grind. It wasn’t nearly enough to get him off, but tremors raced through his body nonetheless, making
it difficult to focus on Lyle’s next words.
“If you don’t want that, angel, stop me now, otherwise in about two minutes this cock,” Lyle thrust his
hips a little harder in emphasis, the friction making Todd’s breath hitch, “is going to be buried deep in
your tight ass.”
“Yes,” he managed to hiss. “Please, Lyle. Sink your thick cock inside me. I want to feel it splitting me
wide open.”
A  deep  growl  rumbled  through  the  chest  of  the  man  above  him.  Lyle’s  eyes  gleamed  with  heat  and
need. For a second they shifted, revealing the vertical slit of his animal. Then Lyle blinked, and his
eyes once again returned to their human shape.
Before  Todd  could  gather  enough  thought  to  question  Lyle,  the  man’s  hips  began  moving  again,
grinding against him in swift glides, his intention clear. “Come for me, my lovely.” His head lowered
and nuzzled his cheek for several thrusts before Lyle nibbled and sucked on the sensitive skin below
Todd’s ear. “Then I’m going to line your hole with your sweet cream. I’m going to use it to stretch
your ass, and with your semen soothing the way, I’m going to bury my dick in you.”
The erotic images his mate’s words created sent Todd over the edge, his breath leaving him in a long,

low groan.
Lyle  continued  to  grind  against  him,  his  movements  encouraging  even  more  cum  to  shoot  from  his
cock. When he finally stopped coming, three ejaculates later, he felt like his balls had been drained
and turned inside out, and it was the best feeling he’d had in so, so long.
His  eyes  slipped  closed  and  his  breathing  labored  as  he  floated  in  post-orgasmic  bliss.  His  senses
barely registered when Lyle shifted above him, bent Todd’s knees and forced his thighs wider.
“Look at me, Todd,” Lyle ordered gruffly.
Todd  pried  his  eyes  open.  He  grinned  at  the  burning  lust  he  saw  glowing  in  Lyle’s  dark  eyes.  His
mate  may  not  yet  believe  he  was  a  shifter,  but  Lyle  felt  the  mating  pull  regardless.  Todd’s  cock
twitched as blood once again flowed south and began to fill his shaft again. He gripped the backs of
his thighs, spreading himself open even further as he pulled his legs to either side of his chest.
Lyle rocked back to his knees, one hand languidly stroking his thick, eight-inch dick as he looked his
fill.  Todd  blushed,  his  gaze  riveted  to  the  hand  holding  the  cock  he  desperately  wanted  to  fill  him.
“What a truly stunning sight you are, Todd, all spread out and wanton for me. Your cum glistens on
your curls and abs. Your body flushed from pleasure.”
A smug smile flooded Lyle’s features with hunger as he ran the fingertip of his free hand up Todd’s
renewed cock, tracing the throbbing vein. “You’re hard again just at the idea of me sinking my thick
dick into your tight ass, aren’t you? Do you want this, lovely?” he asked, waving his cock like a flag
for a second. “Do you want this filling you?”
Lyle  fell  silent,  and  jerking  his  gaze  upward  to  meet  his  hot  stare,  Todd  realized  the  man  actually
expected  an  answer.  He  had  to  swallow  twice  before  working  enough  moisture  into  his  throat  to
answer. “Yes.”
His smile turned into a grin. “You want my cum to spill in you? Fill you up?”
This  time  he  answered  without  hesitation,  the  dirty  talk  making  him  even  hotter  and  loosening  his
tongue. “Yes, Lyle. I want that. My hole aches for you to shove your perfect cock inside and split me
open,” he whispered. “I want to feel it move inside me. Let me clench my muscles around you and
milk your cock to completion. I want to feel your cum flood my ass, feel it drip out of my hole and
down my thighs, marking me as yours.”
From the way Lyle paused in stroking his shaft, Todd worried he’d said too much, gone too far. He
fervently  prayed  Lyle  wouldn’t  stop  now.  Then  Lyle  let  out  a  hiss,  scooped  up  a  dollop  of  Todd’s
cum and rubbed it over the muscles guarding his back door. A cry of pleasure-pain burst from Todd’s
throat as Lyle slipped one finger into his ass. It wasn’t enough.
“More. Please, more. I need…”
Lyle cut off his pleading by scooping up more cum and shoving two fingers all the way into Todd as
far as they could go. Shouting his pleasure, he relished the burn as his mate began to quickly work him
open. He loved the bite of pain, the sting shooting through his system, telling him another fondled him
with urgency.
He’d  had  lovers  in  the  past  refuse  to  give  him  that  bit  of  pain-pleasure  he  craved  so  much,  not
understanding his needs. To have his mate fulfill that deep-seated desire without even needing to be
asked assured Todd all the more that Fate knew what she was doing.
“Need you now, angel.”
The strangled words returned Todd to the moment, and he forced his unconsciously writhing body to
still  as  he  looked  up  into  Lyle’s  tormented  gaze.  “Take  me  now.”  He  rolled  his  hips,  lifting  them
higher, presenting himself to his mate as best he could in this position.
Spitting into his palm, Lyle wet his cock before guiding it to Todd’s stretched hole. Without further

Chapter Three

s he plundered the smaller man’s mouth, Lyle kept his gaze fixed on Todd’s eyes, staring into their

lovely brown depths. What is it about this man that calls to me so much? The second he’d woken,
turned his head, and spotted the sexy brunet sleeping in the chair, the erection that had subsided due to
whatever sleeping concoction Lark had injected him with had reared back to life with a vengeance. If
that damn fool doctor hadn’t stopped me earlier, how many positions could I have taken Todd in
already?

As his tongue stroked and dueled with Todd’s, his brain began to shut down, and he relished the

sensations  rocking  through  his  body,  reminding  him  that  he  was  alive  and  healthy.  With  his  cock
buried  in  the  man’s  hot  ass,  his  explored  every  inch  of  his  new  lover’s  mouth,  enjoying  every
discovery. He couldn’t wait to do this to the rest of Todd, learning everything about him. What made
him  moan,  what  made  him  laugh,  and  most  important,  what  made  him  lose  his  mind  to  shattering
orgasm.

Finally, in spite of the fact that he loved the way the man beneath him wriggled and clutched at

him, trying to get him to move as he held him pinned and at his mercy, his throbbing dick could no
longer be ignored. Lyle broke the kiss, and staring deep into Todd’s light brown eyes, began a slow
thrust and retreat. His body shuddered, pleasure radiating out from his cock, as the tight muscles
surrounding him squeezed and rippled.

Lyle thrust faster and faster into the sexy man below him. A curious sensation rippled up his

spine, one he’d never felt before. His jaw tingled and his teeth began to ache. His vision did the
strange brightening thing that had happened earlier. A gasp from Todd had him focusing on the hot
man under him, and Lyle froze.

The lust in Todd’s eyes was tempered by shock. The man’s hard, dripping shaft oozing against his

abs told Lyle he wasn’t hurting his mate, so…Mate? Where did that come from? Then he
remembered. Ailean and Lark had mentioned it when he’d woken. When had that been?

“Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop,” Todd groaned. “You’re so sexy when your eyes shift. I love

knowing you lose control from the pleasure my body gives you.”

Lyle blinked, and his eyesight returned to normal. He wanted to ask what Todd was talking about,

but the heavy ache in his balls made him want something else first. He began to move again, the
warm, wet friction on his cock coupled with the way Todd’s muscles clenched around him had him at
the brink in seconds.

Wanting Todd to come again, and knowing his lover seemed to like a bit of pain with his

pleasure, he gave in to the unfamiliar desire to mark the man and buried his face in Todd’s neck. He
nibbled the salty, sweaty skin, enjoying Todd’s shudders as much as the light, masculine scent and
flavor of the man. Lyle bit Todd, not hard enough to break skin, but hard enough to leave teeth marks
on the man’s neck.

Todd gasped, his body tensing for just a second below him, before he jerked and howled like the

wolf Lyle knew he was. The feel and smell of Todd’s cum flooded the space between them. Todd’s
rectum tightened even further, strangling his dick in delicious pressure. Unable to hold back, Lyle
thrust twice more. His cock swelled, his balls contracted, and his cum spurted into the confines of
Todd’s ass as Lyle’s body shuddered. His arms tightened convulsively, holding Todd tighter to him,
and he emptied everything he had into the man.

It took several minutes before his senses began to return, and he realized he clutched Todd tighter

than he should. If he weren’t a shifter, he’d probably have broken the man’s spine. When he finally
lifted his head, the warm smile on Todd’s face sent relief flooding through him. He hadn’t hurt him.
The fact that he never wanted to hurt this man, when it popped into his head, sent surprise and
confusion through him. He’d never felt that way about a lover before.

His softening dick slid from the warm confines of the body beneath him, distracting him, and

making another fact broadside him. “Oh my god, Todd. I’m so sorry! I didn’t even think about using a
condom. Please forgive me,” he pleaded. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been so careless.
Careful had always been Lyle’s middle name!
“It’s okay—”

Lyle shook his head, interrupting the man. “No. I should have had more control than that,” he

growled, shamed by his behavior. “I have no idea what I could have gotten from all those tests those
scientists did on me. I should never have put you in danger that way.”

Todd sighed and dropped his head on the pillow, his soft brown eyes sad. “First, you know I’m a

shifter. Shifters can’t get most human diseases. Second, you’re going to have to accept it eventually,
Lyle.” Seeing him cock his head in confusion, Todd lifted a hand and cupped his jaw, tracing the
scratchy stubble with his thumb. “You’re a shifter now, too,” he whispered, his expression entreating
Lyle to believe him.

Heaving a sigh, he rolled over and stared up at the ceiling. Todd curled into his side, and he

instinctively put his arm around the smaller man and pulled him close. “I get that you think you’re
telling me the truth,” he murmured to the ceiling. “I’m just having a hard time wrapping my mind
around it.”

Todd nodded against his chest, and Lyle looked over at his sexy angel. “Ailean told me we’re

mates.”
“Yeah.” He lifted his head and frowned. “I know this is a lot to take in right now. I’ll–I’ll understand
if you want me to leave you alone for a while.”
“What?” Lyle growled, lifting onto an elbow to stare down at the man. “No! Your place is here, with
me,” he snarled, surprising himself with the intensity of his feelings.
The look of relief that lit up Todd’s face had Lyle leaning down to press his lips to his. Before he
could deepen the kiss, he heard several footsteps climbing the stairs. Lyle cocked his head to listen to
their progress. A soft knock confirmed his suspicion that they’d stopped outside their room, but it was
enough  time  for  Lyle  to  reach  down  and  grab  the  quilt  that  had  been  shoved  to  the  foot  of  the  bed
during  their  lovemaking.  He  pulled  it  over  them  right  before  Lark,  Declan,  Grady,  and  Chief
Parkinson walked into the room.
Lyle’s brows shot up in surprise. “Chief?” he muttered in disbelief.  What the hell is he doing here?
He turned his questioning gaze to his partner. “Grady?”
“Sorry,  Lyle.  I  should  have  checked  to  see  if  you  were  up  for  visitors,”  the  big  tiger  shifter  said,
grimacing sheepishly.
Lyle wanted to ask just how much the human knew, but held his tongue. Silence would better serve his
purposes for gathering information.
“Well, it’s good to see ye’re feeling better,” Declan stated, smirking. Standing behind the other men,
he discreetly sniffed the air and then winked at the pair.
His eyes widened, and his gaze locked back on Chief Parkinson. He couldn’t even be sure the man
knew he was gay. The fact that his boss was actually staring out the window instead of at him was
telling.  The  chief  cleared  his  throat  and  said,  “You’ve  been  missing  nearly  a  month,  Detective
Sullivan. Your partner reported your appearance this morning. He said you’d been labeled as a John

Doe at Colin City Hospital since you showed up without any identification. It took a while to run your
prints.” Finally, the chief’s gaze focused on Lyle. “Do you remember what happened?”
Lyle  remained  quiet  a  moment,  gathering  his  thoughts.  “Some  things,”  he  ventured.  “I  remember
walking out of the station and heading down the alley across the street, going to my car. I remember
something slamming me on the back of the head. After that, everything becomes really disjointed.” He
raised a hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Swallowing hard, he tried to decide what to share with his chief and what needed to wait until he’d
left. A hand on his arm got his attention, and he found Lark pressing a cup of water into his hand. Lyle
took  it  gratefully,  just  then  realizing  how  dry  his  throat  actually  was.  Odd  that  I  didn’t  notice  it
before. He took several slow swallows, glancing at Todd. No, not so odd. He mate was fucking hot
in a sweet and sultry way. But then he remembered how Todd reacted to his touch, not to mention the
dirty talk they’d shared, and knew a little devil hid beneath the exterior of his angel.
The memories had his dick thickening, and he growled softly. He wanted the man again and suddenly
found it difficult to concentrate on why he couldn’t pull the wolf under him and sink his cock into…
“Lyle,” Grady’s deep voice called out gruffly. “Focus!”
He  gave  himself  a  mental  slap  and  pulled  his  gaze  away  from  a  now  blushing  Todd.  His  breath
shuddered  out  of  him  and  he  grimaced  when  he  met  his  frowning  chief.  “Sorry,”  he  muttered,
searching  for  an  excuse.  “The  meds  I’m  on  are  messing  with  my  brain.”  He  focused  on  the  blanket
spread  over  his  legs  and  said,  “I  was  in  and  out  of  consciousness.  I  remember  a  lot  of  pain  and  a
couple  people  stabbing  me  with  needles,  although  they’re  faces  are  hazy.  I’m  not  certain  I  could
identify them.”
Lyle frowned, shivering as he remembered his time held captive. The pervasive cold he’d felt earlier
seeped  through  him  again,  and  he  pulled  Todd  close,  trying  to  soak  up  the  little  wolf’s  heat.  He
swallowed  hard  and  found  his  voice  again.  “At  one  point  I  was  strapped  to  a  bed  and  several  IVs
were  inserted  into  me.”  He  shuddered  at  the  memories,  and  those  were  the  ones  he  could  actually
understand.  It  was  when  he  thought  he  was  unconscious,  but  couldn’t  be  sure,  things  began  to  lose
cohesiveness.
“Do you remember how you escaped?” the chief asked. “Do you remember where you were held?”
The man’s questions told him some of what Grady hadn’t shared. Lyle frowned. “After they removed
me from the IVs, they tossed me into a room similar to a prison cell. I don’t know how, but at one
point,  the  power  in  the  building  went  out.  Because  everything  was  electronic,  the  doors  unlocked.”
He frowned, realizing how odd it was that the scientists wouldn’t have generators to keep the cells
locked in case of power failure. Am I missing something? He tried to think back, but pain exploded
in his head, causing him to cry out and clutch his head.
Todd’s arms were around him instantly, and he curled into the man’s side. Burying his face in Todd’s
neck, he breathed in the man’s scent, allowing it to soothe him. “Easy,” his angel crooned. “You’re
here now. You’re safe.”
He  nodded,  but  didn’t  move  from  his  position.  “Okay.  That’s  enough  interrogation  for  my  patient,”
Lark stated firmly. “I’m sorry, Chief, but you’ll have to come back another time. Lyle needs rest.”
“Hell,  no!  He  ain’t  resting.  If  the  faggot  is  well  enough  for that  deviant  behavior,  then  he’s  well
enough to answer my questions!”
Lyle  froze.  Todd  tensed.  He  could  have  heard  a  pin  drop  on  the  hardwood  floor  after  his  boss’s
colorful  outburst.  Hearing  a  low  growl  fill  the  room,  it  took  him  a  second  to  realize  he  made  the
sound.  He  lifted  his  head  from  Todd’s  chest  and  glared  at  the  chief.  “I’ve  been  awake  all  of
twentyfour  hours  and  my  boyfriend  is  the  only  thing  keeping  me  sane,  you  self-righteous  prick,”  he

snarled. “I don’t give a fuck if you don’t like that I’m gay!”
He watched Chief Parkinson’s face turn an interesting shade of red, but couldn’t find it in himself to
feel  any  remorse  for  his  outburst.  Sure  he  wasn’t  out  and  proud,  but  he  wasn’t  in  the  closet  by  any
means. Lyle hadn’t realized he worked for such a bigoted ass. The chief stalked toward the bed, hand
lifted as though he wanted to strike him, and Lyle caught a whiff of the man’s scent, sweat covered by
dark musk cologne. The smell triggered something primal, something protective in Lyle’s brain and he
roared, launching toward the man.
Todd grabbed him from behind, wrestling him back to the bed. His sight did the odd brightening thing
again,  and  he  watched  Grady  and  Declan  rush  a  shouting  chief  from  the  room.  The  words  bounced
around Lyle’s head like white noise, not understanding any of it. The only thing that penetrated was
Todd’s crooning.
After the door slammed shut, blocking the others from view, Lyle shuddered, his growls easing to an
end. A sharp jab to his shoulder brought his attention to where Lark was once again pulling a needle
from his arm. “It’s just a mild sedative, Lyle,” the little blond said. “It won’t knock you out. It’ll just
help you calm down.”
Lyle nodded, curling his big body around Todd. “I’m so sorry, my angel. I didn’t know my boss was a
homophobic ass,” he whispered.
“It’s okay. It’s nothing I haven’t heard before. Everything is fine.” Todd accentuated the words with a
kiss.
Another thought finally hit him. “Holy shit. I just cussed out my boss!” He groaned and buried his face
back in Todd’s neck, breathing in the man’s relaxing scent like it was the only thing that’d keep him
alive.  “I  can’t  believe  I  did  that!”  It  didn’t  take  a  genius  to  realize  his  emotions  were  all  over  the
place.
Todd  kissed  his  forehead  again.  “Don’t  worry,”  he  whispered.  “I’m  sure  we  can  blame  it  on  the
drugs.” Lyle lifted his head, staring hopefully at the man upon hearing Todd’s words.
“And can you imagine the ass-chewing Declan is giving him right now?” Lark cut in. Lyle took in the
man’s frown and his hand resting on his cocked hip. “Imagine the nerve of that man! Coming into our
home and bashing gays. Fucking idiot, if you ask me.”
The  two  men’s  words  made  him  smile.  They  were  trying  so  hard  to  reassure  him.  “I  still  think  I’m
probably out of a job,” he whispered.
“Oh, hell no,” Lark snarked. “He can’t fire you for your sexual orientation. He’ll have his ass handed
to him in court if he tries that shit!”
That had Lyle’s brows shooting up. “Court?”
Todd squeezed his hand, drawing his attention back to the man he clung to. “My brother Phillip is a
lawyer.”
“Huh, okay,” he murmured. “And what are you, angel?”
Todd’s  heated  flush  surprised  Lyle,  and  he  gave  the  man  a  reassuring  squeeze.  “I’m  a  grease
monkey,” Todd admitted. “Although I enjoy working on cars, I really like fixing bikes.”
“Motorcycles? Really? Any particular kind?”
He  shook  his  head.  “Not  really.  I  like  most  kinds.  I  work  at  a  shop  in  Stone  Ridge  part  time  that’s
owned  by  Trace  Lancaster.  He’s  pack,  so  he’s  been  really  understanding  about  giving  me  so  much
time off.”
“That sure does seem to help, huh? Working at a pack owned business.” He watched Todd nod and
could feel his mind start to drift. Between the sex and the altercation with his boss, Lyle felt wiped
out.

Chapter Four

nce he felt certain Lyle was asleep, Todd eased out of the bed and crossed to the dresser. He

pulled out a pair of fresh jeans and a blue t-shirt. Smiling slightly, he followed Lark out of the room.
“Now that he’s woken and proved he’s coherent, I’m ready for a shower.” He’d had a hard time
convincing his wolf to leave his mate’s side over the past week and a half, but now his animal had
calmed considerably.

Lark grinned and stared at his neck. “Nice love bite. It doesn’t look like it broke skin, but he

definitely doesn’t seem to be adverse to the idea of you and him being mates, huh?” he teased.

Todd released a relieved sigh and smiled. “Fortunately not. I just hope he realizes we mate for

life,” he added ruefully.

“Ask Grady what he’s said to him about mates. After seven years working together, I’d think it

would have come up at least once, especially since he recently found Gordon,” Lark pointed out.

Nodding, he said, “I’ll do that. Be down in a few to help prepare supper.”

“You don’t have to do that.”
Raising a hand, he waved away the objection. “I really need to feel useful,” he admitted. “I’ve been
sitting vigil for so long, I feel like my muscles are going to atrophy.”
Lark  laughed.  “I  can  certainly  appreciate  that. All  right.  We’re  grilling  steaks  tonight,  so  I’ll  leave
you in charge of potato salad. How does that sound?”
“Perfect!”
Enjoying  the  hot  water  sluicing  over  his  cramped  muscles  just  a  little  too  much,  he  didn’t  make  it
downstairs  for  nearly  twenty  minutes.  “Hey,  guys.  Yup,  you  still  look  hot  together,”  he  teased,
walking in on a kissing Grady and Gordon.
When they broke apart, Grady winked. “Hello, Todd. Lyle is looking a lot better today. It’s good to
see.”
“Yeah,” he said, his smile fading. “Was that little display normal? Or is it new?”
“Well,  he’s  always  had  a  bit  of  a  temper,  but  that  was  a  bigger  blow-up  than  I’ve  ever  seen.”  He
shrugged,  lifting  his  lips  in  a  wry  smile.  “With  everything  that  has  happened,  along  with  our  boss
being an ass, I’m not really surprised.”
Letting out a breath, Todd smiled. “Good. With our not knowing what animal he now shares his mind
with, I was hoping his temper wasn’t a reflection of his beast.”
“Don’t worry, Todd,” Declan reassured, entering the dining room through a sliding door. He held a
pair of tongs he’d been using to turn the steaks on the grill. “Between all of us, I’m certain we can
ease him into his new attributes.”
“I hope so, Alpha,” Todd murmured.
Declan  clasped  him  on  the  shoulder  before  moving  past  him,  picking  up  a  potato,  and  tossing  it  to
Todd, who caught it by reflex. “I believe Lark put ye on salad duty.” He grinned. “Get to it, and don’t
forget the onions.”
Chuckling,  he  nodded.  “Yes,  Alpha.  But  if  your  mate  won’t  kiss  you  because  he  doesn’t  like  my
potato  salad  don’t  come  crying  to  me.”  Todd  laughed  when  Declan  growled  playfully  at  him,  then
turned to the bowl of freshly washed potatoes. He got to work, grateful to have something so mundane
to focus on.
Fifteen minutes later, he walked into the dining room carrying a large bowl of fresh potato salad just
as Declan entered with two plates of steaks. He’d just set the bowl on the table when a pair of strong

arms  wrapped  around  him  from  behind  and  gave  him  a  squeeze.  He  laughed,  inhaling  the  familiar
scent of his brother. “I came as soon as I heard,” Phillip said, giving him another brotherly squeeze.
“I’m glad Lyle’s finally come round.”
Todd  nodded,  opening  his  mouth  to  reply  when  an  angry,  hissing  roar  shook  the  walls.  Everyone’s
heads  snapped  toward  the  sound,  and  Todd’s  jaw  dropped  when  he  spotted  the  large  head  peering
over the upstairs railing at them.
“What the hell is that?” Phillip whispered, his arms tightening as he protectively tried to move Todd
behind him.
The  yellow  vertical-pupil  eyes  focused  on  them  and  another  low  growl  echoed  through  the  silent
room. A  claw  gripped  the  banister  and  the  creature  began  to  pull  its  sinuous  body  over  the  railing,
revealing muscled legs with nearly three-inch claws.
“Lyle,” Todd whispered, struggling to get away from his brother. He needed to go to his mate, calm
him. He could see the anger and agitation in every slow move the massive lizard made. “Let me go!”
he growled.
“What the hell are you doing?” his brother barked, trying to hold him back.
Another snarl jagged teeth and a forked tongue. “That’s my mate, and you’re pissing him off,” Todd
snapped.
“He’s  right,”  Declan  murmured.  “Go  to  yer  mate,  Todd.  Just  take  it  slow.  We  need  to  be  sure  he
recognizes ye in this form.”
To  his  relief,  Phillip  released  him,  and  Todd  started  ripped  through  the  room,  showing  off  slowly
toward  the  twelve-foot  reptile.  “Easy  now,  Lyle.  There’s  no  threat  here,”  he  crooned,  separating
himself from the others and crossing to the stairs. “We’re all friends.”
The lizard watched his progress while keeping one eye on the others. Climbing the stairs, Todd took
his time, pleased when the snarling stopped and the agitated movements of the long tail slowed. Todd
swept  his  gaze  over  the  big  animal,  still  uncertain  what  kind  of  lizard  it  actually  was.  It  had  the
traditional low-slung body and mottled green and brown flesh with red banding on its back. Three-
inch claws adorned each foot attached to short, thick legs, and a six-foot tail that doubled the length of
the creature’s body.
Todd  reached  up  a  hand  and  stroked  Lyle’s  long,  smooth  head.  He  smiled  as  Lyle’s  forked  tongue
flicked out, scenting him.
“You’re  quite  stunning,  whatever  you  are,”  he  murmured.  “But  if  you  want  to  eat  dinner  with  us,  I
need you to return to your human form.” Brushing lightly over the animal’s face, he realized he had the
creature’s full attention, so he continued to ramble. “I made potato salad, and Lark baked apple pie.
Declan grilled steaks. Alpha makes the best rare steaks.”
Suddenly,  the  skin  under  his  fingers  rippled  and  the  creature  let  out  a  low,  pained  groan.  Lyle
convulsed,  his  body  shuddering  as  his  limbs  realigned,  his  jaw  and  face  shrank,  and  his  body
contorted, slipping back into the form of a human.
Todd knelt, helping Lyle settle on his knees.
“Then you’ve never had one of my steaks.”
It  took  a  second  for  the  man’s  whispered  words  to  make  sense,  but  then  Todd  grinned.  “I  look
forward to trying one of yours,” he replied. “Are you up to joining us? Or do you want to go back to
bed?”
“No.” Lyle gripped Todd’s wrist in what would have been a bone-crushing grip if Todd hadn’t been
a shifter, as it was, he’d still probably end up with a bruise. “Need to be with you.”
“Of course, love,” he replied. “Let’s get you some clothes, and then we’ll go get some food. Okay?”

“Yeah.”
Wrapping an arm around Lyle’s waist, he helped him back to the bedroom and found a pair of sweats
and a t-shirt. “We’ll need to work on your grip, handsome,” he said conversationally. “Now that you
have increased strength, you’ll need to learn how to keep it under wraps with humans.”
“What do you mean?” Lyle asked.
Todd  turned  to  him  and  wrapped  both  arms  around  his  waist  to  pull  him  close.  “You  have  shifter
strength now, Lyle. You have to remember to keep your grip light.”
For a second, Lyle just stared at him. Then his dark eyes widened. “Oh, shit, angel! I didn’t hurt you,
did I? I never want to hurt you!”
“No, no,” Todd hurried to reassure. “You didn’t hurt me. I’m just warning you because if I wasn’t a
shifter, you might have.” He reached up and traced the pads of his fingers along Lyle’s jaw and over
his lips. Standing on his toes, he gently kissed his mate. “I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”
Lyle nodded slowly, his look still concerned. Todd threaded the fingers of one hand through Lyle’s
and led the man to the dining room.
“Hey, partner! Glad to see you looking better!” Grady greeted with a grin. He rose from the table and
grabbed another plate, handing it to Lyle while gripping his shoulder with the other hand. “Welcome
back to us, Lyle.”
“It’s good to be back,” he murmured, looking around the group. “Well, mostly.”
“You’ll be fine once you get used to it,” Grady said. “You’re a tough bastard,” he added with a grin.
To Todd’s relief, Lyle smirked and said dryly, “Thanks, I think.” After snagging his steak and adding
potato salad, beans, and broccoli salad, he turned to look at Declan. “I appreciate you letting me stay
here while I recover.”
“It’s  because  of  us  that  ye  were  pulled  into  this,”  Declan  replied.  “Ye’re  welcome  here  for  the
duration of yer recovery.”
“My recovery? You think I’ll need to stay much longer?” Lyle said before taking a bite of steak.
“It really depends on you,” Declan replied. “Once ye can control yer shift, then we’ll talk about ye
going back to work.”
“Control  my  shift?”  Lyle  frowned,  took  a  bite  of  steak  and  chewed  thoughtfully.  “Is  that  what
happened on the stairs?” He shook his head. “I thought I was just out of my fucking mind with rage,
and I have no clue why,” he whispered.
Todd frowned and rested his hand on Lyle’s arm to draw his attention. “Why were you upset?”
Letting out a breath, Lyle’s brows creased and held his gaze. “I could smell the food and was hungry,
so I came down the hall to see if I could get some. When I paused at the landing, I looked down into
the dining room and saw you in the arms of another man.”
Lyle blinked, and his eyes shifted to his reptile’s. A low growl rumbled through his chest and his gaze
locked  on  Phillip.  Springing  to  his  feet,  his  chair  toppling  backward,  Lyle  leaped  across  the  table,
scattering dishes, and grabbed the lapels of Phillip’s button-down shirt. He pulled Phillip out of his
chair, swung him around and slammed him into a wall. “Why were you touching my mate!” he roared.
Jumping  up,  Todd  rushed  around  the  table,  desperate  to  separate  his  mate  and  his  brother  before
serious harm happened to either of the men. He knew how dominant his brother could be and wasn’t
surprised to see a feral look coming over Phillip’s eyes as he struggled to stay calm.
He plastered himself to Lyle’s back, soaking his mate in his scent. “Easy, Lyle, easy,” he crooned. He
settled his hands over Lyle’s and eased his grip on Phillip’s shirt and neck. “I’m your mate. This is
Phillip. He’s my brother.” He rubbed his cheek against the back of Lyle’s neck since he couldn’t quite
reach the other man’s cheek.

Seeing spots of hide sprout on Lyle’s forearms, he pulled his mate tighter Remember what breathe.
Think  about  that  cubicle  at  your  office.  How  boring  it  is  to  do  all  that  paperwork.  Focus  on  that,
love.”
Seconds later, to his immense relief, the last of Lyle’s grip on Phillip released and his arms dropped
to his sides. Todd found himself  with  an  armful  of  sagging  mate.  He  stumbled,  but  managed  to  stay
upright as someone slid a chair next to them, and he eased Lyle onto it. Keeping one arm around the
man, Todd lifted apologetic eyes to Phillip.
Phillip grimaced and slipped away. “Why do I always seem to be the one coming between unmated
couples? I’m not even gay!” he groused, but he gave Todd an amused smile.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” Lyle moaned, leaning into Todd’s massaging touch.
Declan  knelt  in  front  of  Lyle,  reaching  up  and  grasping  his  chin  to  force  him  to  look  at  him.  “Yer
animal is a big fucking predator, Lyle. Ye’ll need to learn to control his aggressive tendencies. I think
yoga and meditation exercises will help ye. Plus, if ye let yer animal out on a regular basis, it’ll help
ye keep control as well.”
“What is my animal?” Lyle whispered. “All I remember is the world getting brighter and everything
looked  smaller.”  Then  he  shrugged.  “Well,  along  with  seeing  some  rather  to  him.  “You’re  the  only
one I want. I told you in our bedroom. Stop and impressive looking claws.”
“Well, we’re not really sure,” Todd admitted.
Lyle frowned, his gaze lifting and sweeping over the others in the room. “What do you mean?”
Declan  cleared  his  throat  and  shrugged.  “We’ve  not  seen  a  lizard  shifter  before.  We’re  not  certain
what kind of lizard ye are, Lyle.”
“It’d be easy to find out.”

Chapter Five

yle turned to look at the speaker, a small brown-haired girl. She was maybe thirteen, give or take

a year. He’d never really been great at guessing kid’s ages. He remembered her as Sara, Declan and
Lark’s adopted daughter.

“Aye?” Declan said, cocking his head in a very canine way as he stared at her. “How do ye plan

to do that, Sara?”
The youngster had the audacity to roll her eyes at her alpha. “We have internet. We’ll just look him
up.”
“Of course,” Lark replied, laughing. “Why didn’t we think of that, sweetie?”
Sara shrugged. “I don’t know.” Sara slipped off her chair and headed out of the room, pausing to look
at the men in the room. “Well, come on. I’ll show you.”
To Lyle’s surprise, without a word, all the men in the room followed the girl. Todd wrapped an arm
around  his  back  and  helped  him  from  the  chair.  The  close  proximity  to  the  man,  along  with  his
amazing  scent,  had  Lyle  thinking  of  all  kinds  of  wicked  things  he  wanted  to  do  to  Todd  instead  of
joining  the  others.  Trying  to  clear  his  head,  he  found  his  feet,  took  his  mate’s  hand  and  followed
everyone out of the room.
Sara  led  down  the  hall  and  into  a  large  study.  The  room  contained  a  good  sized  desk  and  several
leather couches and chairs. It looked as though Declan held pack meetings with his inner circle there.
The girl settled behind a computer, and everyone gathered around her. A few minutes later, she turned
the monitor around and showed a number of pictures.
“What  the  fuck  is  that,”  Lyle  whispered.  To  his  surprise,  he  felt  something  shift  in  the  back  of  his
mind, a presence almost, that gave a hissing growl of approval at the pictures and then settled back
down.
“This is a Nile Monitor,” Sara replied. “It says they can grow up to nine feet, have powerful legs and
jaws,  and  wellmuscled  bodies.”  Grinning,  she  pointed  to  a  picture  of  a  young  monitor.  “You  had
pointed teeth like the young monitors.”
“But he was quite a bit larger than nine feet,” Todd pointed out. “I would put him more in the twelve
to thirteen range.”
“Being larger than average is pretty normal for a shifter,” Declan assured. “And even though ye have
the  teeth  of  a  young  one,  ye’re  probably  full  grown.”  He  shrugged.  “Shifters  sometimes  have
adaptations, plus ye were turned into one, not born.”
“But  how  did  an  African  animal  end  up  in  me?”  Lyle  whispered,  his  brain  churning  with  all  this
bizarre information.
“I can answer that,” a soft voice came from the doorway behind him.
The skinny black man looked vaguely familiar to Lyle. “Do I know you?” he asked.
Doctor Carmichael appeared behind the man. “Ah, here you all are,” he said. He grabbed the other
man’s hand and led him past Lyle. He dropped onto a couch and pulled the other man onto his lap.
“What’s going on?” His gaze finally settled on Lyle and he grinned. “Lyle! It’s good to see you up and
about. How are you feeling? Lark and Todd are taking good care you, I trust?”
When Lyle couldn’t find the words to answer, Ailean’s brows lifted and he looked around the room,
his gaze finally landing on the monitor. “Ah, monitors. Cool, aren’t they?” His comment was greeted
by silence, which had him lifting a brow. “What?”
“I’m Drake Whitton,” the slender man on Ailean’s lap stated, as he patted the doctor’s hand to soothe

the sting of being interrupted. “When you escaped, you crawled into the back of my car and I took you
to  the  hospital.  To  Ailean,”  he  added.  “I  was  at  the  complex  you  escaped  from  because  I’m  a
scientist.” He began to twist his fingers in agitation, his body trembling.
“Easy, little mate,” Ailean crooned. “It wasn’t your fault. Remember?”
“In a way, it was,” Drake replied. He turned a beseeching gaze on Lyle and said, “I didn’t mean for
any of this to happen.”
At first only confusion clouded his brain, but then another thought struck. “You experimented on me?”
he  growled.  He  could  feel  that  strange  presence  in  his  mind  again,  this  time  bringing  a  feeling  of
aggression. He struggled to control it, taking deep breaths.
“No!” Drake denied. Then his shoulders sagged. “Not directly.”
“Well? Which is it?” Lyle snarled.
Todd wrapped an arm around his waist and led him to a sofa. “Easy, Lyle,” he murmured. “Just let
him explain.”
He gave a jerky nod before looking again at Drake. The man grimaced and said, “I was hired by them
as a contractor. They gave me DNA from an animal in Africa. When I reported that it had both human
and  reptilian  components,  they  wanted  to  know  if  I  could  somehow  create  a  serum  to  give  humans
some of the reptile’s characteristics.”
“Reptile characteristics?” Lyle muttered. “Why?”
A  flush  made  the  man’s  chocolate  skin  even  darker.  “I’m  a  scientist,”  he  whispered.  “I  didn’t  ask.
They  were  paying  me  for  a  job,  so  I  did  it.”  Drake  stared  at  his  fingers.  “I  didn’t  know  they  were
using my research to experiment on you, Lyle.” His head lifted and tears made the man’s eyes glitter.
“Honest to God I didn’t!”
Todd’s hand rubbing his back, along with his scent in Lyle’s nostrils, kept him from doing anything
rash.  He  could  still  feel  his  animal’s  anger  at  the  scientist’s  manipulations.  “So  turning  me  into  a
shifter wasn’t what they intended?”
“No,” Ailean responded. “Whatever they did to you almost killed you. If Drake hadn’t figured out a
way to convert you into a shifter, you would have died.”
His  serious  expression  had  Lyle  letting  out  a  long  breath.  On  one  hand,  if  Drake  hadn’t  done  the
experiments for the company, Lyle wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place. Then he shook his head
and  started  speaking.  “Ailean  is  right,  Drake.  Even  if  you  hadn’t  done  the  research  for  them,  they
would have found someone else to do it.” He scoffed as a memory flashed through him. “And then you
wouldn’t have been there for me to hijack.”
Drake’s eyes widened. “You remember that?”
“Vaguely,” he admitted. “I guess thanks are in order.”
“No, that’s not necessary.”
Lyle shrugged, finally beginning to feel at ease. He settled back onto the couch and wrapped an arm
around Todd’s shoulders, pulling his sweet smelling angel against his side. He looked at Declan and
frowned. “So is shifting always that painful? I just about thought my insides were going to explode.”
“Normally it’s more a mixture of odd sensations than pain,” the wolf alpha said, “but with ye being
made and not born, I have no idea how it will impact ye.” He frowned. “I’ll help ye make it through
yer shift a few times and see if that doesn’t work out the kinks.”
Though he shivered at the thought of going through that amount of pain again, he still nodded. “Okay.”
“But first, you need to eat more and get back to bed,” Lark ordered.
“Sure.” Lyle let Todd help him off the couch. The fatigue rolled over him swiftly, and he stumbled.
“To bed first, then I’ll bring a plate to you,” Todd advised, leading him from the room.

On their way out, they heard Declan ask Ailean why they’d stopped by.
“I wanted to check on my patient one more time before Drake and I head to Denver,” Ailean replied.
“We’re visiting Drake’s sister and mother and looking into artificial insemination. We’re going to be
gone for a week, so I’d also like to know if you’ll keep an eye on Dagus while we’re gone.”
Declan’s  response  was  lost  to  him  when  Todd  shut  the  door  behind  them.  Climbing  the  stairs  took
every last shred of energy he had left. Relief flooded him when he dropped unceremoniously onto the
bed  and  groaned.  “I  feel  like  I’m  dead  on  my  feet  and  I’ve  only  been  up  for  a  couple  hours,”  he
grumbled into the pillow.
He felt the bed dip. Turning his head slightly and cracking an eye open, he watched Todd settle on his
ass. “Just relax,” he whispered. Todd maneuvered his limbs and helped him remove his shirt. Then
Todd’s hands settled on Lyle’s shoulders and slowly began to massage away the knots.
A few moments later, he found himself so relaxed he could barely manage to react when he heard the
bedroom door open. Grady appeared in his line of vision with a plate holding a steak and fries. Lyle
let out a grunt and shifted. Todd took the hint and rolled off him to sit on the bed. Lyle grinned, leaned
up on one elbow and gave him a quick kiss. “Your fingers are amazing, angel. Thanks.”
Todd smiled. “I’m happy to help.”
“You  do.  Help,”  he  added.  He  received  another  smile  that  sent  an  unfamiliar  warmth  and  pleasure
through Lyle’s chest, which he couldn’t even begin to explain. Instead he rolled over on the bed and
pulled  himself  up  to  rest  his  back  against  the  headboard.  He  turned  to  Grady  and  motioned  for  the
plate. “Is that for me?”
“Of  course,”  the  detective  replied,  handing  him  the  plate.  “Made  those  fries  special  just  for  you.  I
know how much you like them,” he added with a wink. “Dinner kind of got interrupted.”
Holding it to his nose, Lyle inhaled deeply and moaned. “Oh, yeah. Steak and fries. Nothing better.”
He grinned and took the knife and fork a chuckling Grady held out for him. He wasted no time digging
into the food, savoring the perfectly rare steak.
He  paused,  a  thought  occurring  to  him.  “So,  how  did  you  know  I  wanted  my  steak  rare  instead  of
medium rare, like usual?”
Grady grinned, showing off straight teeth. “We keep telling you. You’re a shifter now, Lyle. If you’re
a shifter predator, you like your meat rare.”
“Right,” he drawled, drawing the word out. He turned to Todd, and held up a bite of steak. “Hungry?”
Todd nodded and leaned forward, opening his mouth. Lyle slipped a juicy piece of meat between his
parted lips. His tongue flicked out, licking the juices off Lyle’s fingers, sending goose bumps up his
arm and a shiver down his body. He growled and set the nearly empty plate aside. Cupping Todd’s
head, he pulled the smaller man’s face to his and latched onto his mouth.
“Whoa,  whoa,  you  two!  We  need  to  talk  before  you  go  at  it  again.”  A  new  voice  broke  into  his
blissful moment, making him aware of Grady’s laughter.
Lyle reluctantly ended the kiss and turned to look at Gordon, who now stood next to Grady. Gordon
grinned fondly at Todd and shook his head. “Can’t you control yourselves for ten minutes?”
Not liking the way Grady’s mate was looking at his angel, he let out a snarl and pulled Todd close.
“Mine!”
Todd tapped his chest, getting his attention. “I’m yours,” he assured, rubbing a soothing hand over his
shoulder. “He’s just teasing.” He smiled up at Lyle, his brown eyes gleaming with affection. “Take a
slow, deep breath, and calm down, handsome.”
Following  Todd’s  directions,  Lyle  felt  the  odd  presence  in  the  back  of  his  mind  settle.  “Sorry,”  he
said ruefully. “I really don’t know why I keep snapping like that,” he admitted.

“That’s what we’d like to talk to you about,” Grady said. “The chief knows you’re recovering from a
form of torture, but we didn’t tell him everything about why you were kidnapped or how you were…
affected.” Grady shuddered and grimaced. “I’m truly sorry you were dragged into this by the Crystal
Lake Corporation.”
Lyle  shrugged.  “I  would  have  become  involved  anyway,  right?  Everyone  keeps  calling  Todd  my
mate.” He frowned for a second. “Even this animal I feel in the back of my mind thinks of him as my
mate. Would that still be the case if I hadn’t become a…well, a shifter?”
He forced the question out, knowing he had to accept the inevitable eventually. Just because he only
understood bits and pieces of what happened when he shifted into the animal, didn’t mean it didn’t
happen or wasn’t real. His life had been turned upside down once, six years ago when his partner had
revealed he could turn into a Bengal tiger and that shifters were real. Now his life was being turned
upside down again. He’d lived through the experience once. He knew he could do it again, especially
since this time he had an angel at his side.
Todd nodded. “I knew you were my mate, even when you were human. It’s why I petitioned Declan to
join his pack. I wanted to find you.” His smile turned to a grimace. “I’m just sorry it took me so long
to do it.” He lifted a hand and cupped Lyle’s face. “I wish I could have stopped them from hurting
you.”
The  soft  look  in  Todd’s  eyes  touched  something  deep  inside  Lyle,  something  none  of  his  other
boyfriends had ever reached before. It scared him and excited him at the same time, and he knew he’d
have to figure out what it meant soon.
He nuzzled into Todd’s touch. “It’s not your fault, my angel,” he whispered before turning his head
and kissing the smaller man’s palm. After getting a smile from the beautiful wolf, he looked at Grady.
“Why do I get angry any time some other guy shows affection toward Todd?”
“Because  you’re  not  mated  with  him,  yet,”  Gordon  replied  bluntly.  “Once  you  claim  him,  then  that
feeling  of  jealousy  will  ease.  Other  shifters  will  know  he’s  taken.”  The  hefty  shifter  grinned.
“Besides, shifters mate for life. He’s been looking for you for months. You’re the only one he wants.”
Something eased in his chest, a sense of belonging clicked into place. He smiled cheekily at Todd.
“Yeah?”
His  angel  blushed,  his  skin  darkening  to  a  rosy  bronze.  “Yeah.  Ever  since  I  scented  you  when  you
helped rescue the shifters from the warehouse. I know you’re probably not ready for a relationship,
not with everything that’s happened to you recently, but…” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s Apple
bobbing. “I’m here when you are.”
Smiling,  Lyle  squeezed  the  arm  he  had  wrapped  around  Todd.  “I’ve  never  been  able  to  keep  a
relationship together for more than a few weeks, Todd,” he told him, determined to be honest with the
smaller man. “But with you I want to try.” At Todd’s hopeful smile, Lyle gave him a quick peck on
the lips and then looked at the two big men sitting curled up together in the chair Todd had occupied
earlier.  How  they  managed  to  fit,  Lyle  wasn’t  certain,  but  they  seemed  comfortable.  “You  talked
about claiming. What is that?”
“I noticed that nip on Todd’s shoulder,” Grady pointed out, making him blush. Lyle started to mumble
an apology, but the big shifter waved a hand, and Lyle snapped his mouth shut. “You’re just feeling
the natural urge a shifter feels to claim his mate.” He grinned and looked at Gordon, his eyes glittering
with sudden desire. “It binds mates together in the most pleasurable of ways,” he growled.
Lyle’s brows lifted in surprise, amazed at the tiger’s sudden change. Almost instant lust would be the
only way Lyle could describe it. He glanced at Todd and met his gaze. A shy smile lit the man’s eyes,
and Todd ducked his head and shivered. “The idea turns me on,” he whispered.

“I didn’t understand what I was doing before,” he replied, pecking a kiss to Todd’s lips. “I want to be
in control when I claim you, angel.” He didn’t mention he needed to be certain it was the best thing
for  both  of  them.  It  was  only  right  before  his  kidnapping  that  he  had  even  started  thinking  about
settling  down,  and  now  he  was  being  handed  a  partner  and  mate.  He  admitted  to  liking  what  he’d
learned so far of the man, but Lyle couldn’t shake the feeling that things were moving just a little too
fast for him.
A jaw-cracking yawn overtook him, and Lyle felt his brain churn sluggishly. Too much had happened
in the last twelve hours, and he needed time to assimilate it all. Running a hand over his face, Lyle
grimaced. “Sorry. It’s been a long day.”
Gordon and Grady rose. “You have a lot to think about, old friend,” Grady said, seeming to instantly
understand  his  reticence  to  discuss  anything  else.  “Get  some  sleep.  We’ll  be  around  to  answer  any
more questions you have, and I’m certain Todd won’t be too far,” he added with a wink.
Slumping down in the bed, his arms around Todd, he watched the other men leave. “I’ve never been
good at expressing my feelings, Todd,” he murmured into the man’s hair, feeling the urge to doze off.
“I understand, Lyle,” Todd said into his neck, his hands rubbing his chest. “This is a lot for anyone to
take in.”
“I’m so overwhelmed, angel,” Lyle admitted. “I just need a little time.”
That was the last thing he remembered before sleep took him again.

Chapter Six

odd slipped from the bed and gave his mate a soft kiss. Lyle snuffled softly in his sleep, before his

eyes snapped open, and the man wrapped his arms around Todd and pulled him back onto the bed.
Todd giggled, opening his mouth and accepting the deep kiss Lyle gave him.

Todd pulled back from the kiss and grinned. “Good morning,” he teased.

Lyle grinned back. “Already? I feel like I just fell asleep.”
“Afraid so,” Todd replied, trailing his fingers down Lyle’s back. It was a good thing they were both
fully clothed, or he’d be sorely tempted to give in to what his hard cock wanted and beg Lyle to fuck
him into the mattress. “And I’ve gotta go to work,” he added ruefully.
A low growl greeted his announcement. “I don’t want you to go.”
“I’m sorry, handsome,” Todd said. “Trace has been gracious to let me have this much time off, being
a new employee and all.” He smiled and rubbed his cheek against Lyle’s neck. “I’m sorry I woke you.
I didn’t mean to.”
“I’m  a  light  sleeper,”  Lyle  revealed.  Then  he  lifted  his  head  and  glared  down  at  Todd.  “And  don’t
ever try to sneak from my bed again. I admit I don’t understand everything that’s happening to me, but
the  idea  of  you  disappearing  pisses  me  off  to  no  end.”  He  shuddered  and  took  a  deep  breath,  then
eased his grip on Todd. “Sorry. It looks like I have a lot to learn about control.”
“I’ll  be  back  before  supper.  You  rest  and  regain  your  strength  this  morning,”  Todd  crooned.
“Declan’s supposed to be home around two this afternoon. He’s going to help you with that control
and learning to shift when you want instead of when your animal wants.”
Lyle grunted, easing off him. “This is so damn surreal.”
Todd rose from the bed and smiled fondly at him. “I know, but we only want you to be safe. If you
were to shift in the middle of a crowd of humans, there’d be hell to pay,” he said, chagrin filling his
voice.
“I  know,”  he  ground  out.  “And  I  can  read  between  the  lines.  It’s  not  just  my  safety  everyone  is
concerned about. There’s a bigger picture here.” Todd knew his stunned expression showed, because
Lyle reached up and stroked his hand. “It’s okay. They’re right. I’m a danger to shifter society right
now.”
He swallowed hard. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you,” Todd whispered.
“Hey,”  Lyle  crooned.  “I’ll  learn.  Don’t  worry,  sweet  angel.”  He  sat  up  against  the  headboard  and
tugged on Todd’s arm. He went willingly, crawling onto his mate’s lap. The erection that had faded
during  the  serious  conversation  began  to  manifest  again  and  he  couldn’t  stop  from  rocking  against
Lyle.
Lyle grunted, lifting his hips to meet his thrusts. “It’ll all be fine,” he growled, his eyes shifting for a
second before returning to normal. “I’ll learn, angel, for no other reason than to be with you.”
His mate’s promise sent warmth through Todd’s system, and he sighed. “I don’t really have time for
this,” he grunted, but continued to move against Lyle.
“We’ll be quick,” Lyle said, panting.
He  reached  between  them  and  shoved  down  the  front  of  both  their  sweats.  Their  cocks  slapped
together,  sending  sparks  of  pleasure  to  Todd’s  balls.  When  Lyle  rolled  his  palm  over  both  their
cock’s heads, Todd huffed a breath and pushed closer. Lyle wrapped his pricks and stroked.
“Oh, yeah,” Todd whispered, “Very quick.”
Todd  settled  his  hand  on  Lyle’s  adjusting  his  grip  and  moderating  his  stroke.  “Just  like  that,”  he

ordered.
Lyle hissed. “Fuck yeah.”
They rocked their hips, grinding against each other as they jacked their pricks. Rolling their fingers
over the heads of their cocks every few strokes, they used the steady stream of pre-cum to ease the
way. It only took a moment for Todd’s balls to tingle and his shaft to swell. The fingers of his other
hand clenched where he clutched Lyle’s shoulder, and Todd came with a silent howl.
Lyle’s  body  tensed  and  jerked  beneath  him.  Seconds  later,  a  second  stream  of  spunk  coated  his
fingers,  and  the  heady  scent  of  Lyle’s  essence  filled  Todd’s  nostrils.  Todd  panted,  enjoying  Lyle’s
petting hands as he floated on the pleasant wave of endorphins.
“Now it’s a good morning,” Lyle whispered.
The puffs of air ghosting over Todd’s ear created by his words sent a shiver down his spine. Todd
managed  to  lift  his  head  and  smile.  “Definitely.”  He  took  another  moment  to  enjoy  the  afterglow
before he pecked a kiss on Lyle’s lips and eased away from him. He pulled his t-shirt over his head
and used it to clean them both up. Pausing at the doorway, he smiled back at his already dozing mate.
“I’ll see you tonight.”
Lyle grunted in response.
fist around both their
his balls pulling tight.

Todd gently closed the hood on the new BMW and wiped his hands on a rag. Footsteps echoed on

the cement floor, and he turned toward his approaching boss.

“Todd, are you finished there?” Trace asked.

“Yes, Mister Lancaster. The oil change is done and she’s ready to go,” he replied, pointing over his
shoulder at the car.
The older wolf nodded. “Good. You have a call. Take it in my office.”
He  cocked  his  head  and  watched  his  boss  walk  away,  wondering  who  would  be  calling  him  here.
Taking the steps up to the office two at a time, Todd hurried to find out. Picking up the handset, he
greeted the caller. “Todd Abernathy here.”
“Todd,  thank  the  gods,”  Declan’s  Irish  lilt  was  more  pronounced  than  Todd  had  ever  heard  it,
instantly putting the small wolf on alert.
“What’s wrong, Alpha?”
His  immediate  thought  for  Lyle’s  welfare  became  well  founded  when  Declan  said,  “I  was  helpin’
Lyle  learn  how  to  control  his  shift.  He’d  successfully  gotten  into  his  animal  form,  but  after  moving
through the forest for fifteen minutes, he suddenly flicked out his tongue like he’d gotten a scent and
took off.” Declan growled in frustration. “I shoulda had Grady join us. Lyle’s a bit big to subdue by
meself.”
Todd knew how hard that admission was for the alpha wolf, and certainly wasn’t going to comment
on  it.  Instead,  he  said,  “Do  you  know  where  he’s  going?”  Dread  filled  him  that  he’d  found  his
kidnapper’s scent and planned to take revenge.
“From  his  direction,  I  think  he’s  headed  toward  town.  Toward  you,”  Declan  added.  “I  need  ye  to
head to the west side of town and start scenting for him. I’ve asked Grady and Gordon to swing over
that way, too, since they’re also familiar with his scent.”
“Yes, Alpha. I’ll head out right now!”
After hanging up the phone, he hurried down the stairs and found Trace speaking with Chris, a fellow
mechanic, this one human.
Trace turned at his approach. “Gotta go?”

“Yes, sir,” he said. “It’s Lyle…” He paused, uncertain how to explain in front of Chris. The man had
never made any indication that he knew about shifters.
Trace held up a hand. “I understand. If you can’t be here tomorrow, call me.”
Letting out a relieved sigh, Todd nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
In  the  employee  locker  room,  he  peeled  off  his  coveralls.  He  paused  and  grabbed  a  clean  set  of
coveralls off a shelf that should fit Lyle and then ran to his old Chevy S-10. Todd crossed his fingers
and  turned  the  key,  relief  flooding  him  when  the  engine  roared  to  life.  He  knew  if  he  wasn’t  a
mechanic, this old rust bucket would have been laid to rest years ago.
He drove as fast as he dared, definitely more than the law dictated, hurrying to the west side of town.
He rolled down his window as he slowly crept up one side street and down another on the outskirts
of Stone Ridge. Spotting Grady’s truck, he honked once. Seconds later, Grady parked behind him, got
out of his truck, and jogged to his door.
“Smell anything yet?” the big detective asked.
Todd shook his head. “No. Do you think I should get out and head into the woods?”
Resting his hands on his hips, Grady stared into the forest. “I’m not sure. I’d hate to miss him. I can’t
figure  out  what  possessed  him  to  travel  to  town  anyway.”  He  stiffened  and  sniffed  Todd’s  neck.
“Unless it’s because his animal wants to claim you, and Lyle’s dragging his feet,” he mused.
Blushing,  Todd  shrugged.  “I  told  him  I’d  give  him  time,  remember?  We’ve  really  only  known  each
other a day. An animal has been forced on him, sure, but I still have to treat him like a human in most
respects.”
Grady nodded. “I can see that, but him pulling shit like this is dangerous. He needs to learn control.”
“I know,” Todd replied. “He just needs more time.” He pleaded worried massive monitor lizard in
town, or worse, Lyle shifting to human form in front of someone.
Seeing  his  concern,  Grady  gripped  his  shoulder  and  squeezed.  “Relax.  I’m  certainly  not  going  to
recommend we do anything to him. He’s my friend. If push comes to shove, we’ll just move you both
into hiding while he figures out how to control his lizard.”
Todd nodded, although he hated the idea. It sounded too much like his time in a cage. This one would
just be a bigger cage. He sighed. “Thanks.”
A  snarling  hiss  interrupted  their  conversation.  They  both  turned  to  see  Lyle,  still  in  lizard  form,
staring at them from the trees. His tongue flicked out, scenting the air.
Grady released Todd and stepped away from him. “He’s got some of the worst timing,” he muttered.
“Go to him.”
Not needing to be ordered twice, Todd swept the area, grateful to see no one around. He hurried to
his agitated mate, quickly running his hands over the thick hide of his head, neck and body. “You silly
man,” he chided gently. “You shouldn’t be here like this. What were you thinking?” He kissed Lyle’s
snout, trying to take the sting out of his words while still making his point.
The big lizard bumped him with his head and then rubbed his body against Todd’s, nearly knocking
him  over.  The  animal  hissed  before  moving  to  Todd’s  other  side  and  understanding  with  his  eyes,
knowing Grady about what someone would say if they saw a doing it again. It occurred to him that
Lyle’s lizard was trying to replace the scent of others with his own, so he stepped behind the cover of
trees, knelt down and let the lizard rub against him as much as he liked. After five minutes the animal
finally seemed satisfied, for it stepped back and hissed again.
Todd smiled. “I can’t really understand you like this, Lyle. Why don’t you shift back, and we’ll head
back to Declan’s, okay?”
It took a moment of coaxing, but finally the lizard’s body shuddered. It lay down and curled around

itself  as  Todd  heard  the  telltale  sound  of  muscle  popping  and  bones  cracking.  He  cringed  at  an
exceptionally painful sounding noise and rubbed his hands over Lyle’s body as he slowly returned to
his human form.
“If I never have to do that again, I’ll die a happy man,” Lyle panted, pain filling his voice.
“I’m sorry it hurts so much, handsome,” Todd crooned. “Was it at least better than the first time?”
Lyle heaved a sigh before nodding once. “Yeah. I think so. That’s a good sign, right?”
Todd nodded. “Definitely. I have some coveralls that should fit you in my truck. Can you stand?”
Although  he  nodded,  Lyle  still  needed  to  lean  on  Todd  to  get  to  his  feet.  He  swayed,  and  Todd
wrapped  an  arm  around  his  waist.  He  fought  back  a  ripple  of  desire  as  his  hand  came  into  contact
with hard muscle, but just the knowledge that his mate was naked and there with him had Todd’s shaft
swelling.
“Mmmm,” Lyle murmured, rubbing his cheek over the top of Todd’s head. “Are you wearing cologne,
angel?”
He  fought  a  blush,  realizing  his  scent  had  increased.  Todd  shook  his  head.  “I  don’t  wear  cologne.
Shifters find most artificial scents overpowering and obnoxious.”
“Well, you smell amazing,” Lyle growled.
Todd  felt  a  hand  land  on  his  ass  and  squeeze,  making  his  cock  twitch  in  his  jeans.  “Oh,  shit,”  he
whined. “Stop teasing. We can’t do anything here.”
Finally, Lyle seemed to note where he was. “Damn! I made it all the way to town?”
“Yeah,  you  did,”  Grady  cut  in,  holding  out  the  coveralls  that  had  been  on  Todd’s  bench  seat.  “Put
these on. I don’t need to be blinded by your skinny ass,” he growled goodnaturedly.
Lyle flipped him off before reaching for the clothes and yanking them on.
“So, what were you thinking that made you decide to take a jaunt into town in animal form?” Grady
asked quietly. He crossed his arms over his chest, waiting expectantly.
After zipping the clothes up just enough to keep them on, Lyle paused and glanced between them. He
frowned, his brows scrunching as he tried to formulate an answer. Finally, he sighed and said, “I was
missing  Todd.”  Lyle  pulled  him  to  his  chest,  and  Todd  went  willingly,  enjoying  his  mate’s  need  to
touch. “I guess I didn’t realize how late he’d end up working, and with me sitting in Declan’s living
room, bored out of my mind, I must have let it get to me, and ended up transferring the desire to my
animal. When Declan finally got home and we worked on shifting, Todd was all I could think about,”
he finished with a shrug. “I won’t let it happen again.”
Grady  nodded.  “Okay.  No  harm  done,”  he  said,  his  gaze  sweeping  the  area.  “Why  don’t  you  head
home, Todd. I’ll call Declan and let him know we intercepted Lyle at the edge of town and that you’re
headed back.”
Todd nodded and he and Lyle climbed into the truck. Grady grabbed the passenger door before Lyle
could close it, and his gaze shifted between the two. “How about me and Gordon swing by tomorrow
after work? Gordon would probably enjoy a swim, and I bet your monitor would like the pool, too.”
Grinning at the idea, Todd nodded emphatically. “That’d be great.” He settled a hand on Lyle’s thigh
to get his attention. “It’ll be good to let your animal out just to play. It makes them so much easier to
handle when you’re upset or tired, since they don’t feel as antsy by being trapped all the time.”
Lyle nodded. “Okay. I’ll ask Lark if I can use their internet tomorrow. I’d like to check my accounts
and do some research on monitor behavior. Maybe I can get a better feel for it.”
“Sounds good. See you tomorrow,” Grady said.
Lyle nodded, hunching in his seat. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
After another nod, Grady slammed the door shut and Todd started the truck. Ten minutes later, they

were out of town with only trees for company.
“I’m sorry I’m so much trouble,” Lyle whispered, his voice unexpectedly thick with emotion.
Todd’s  brows  lifted  and  he  glanced  at  his  mate  before  returning  his  gaze  to  the  road.  He  settled  a
hand on the back of Lyle’s neck and kneaded the muscles there, worried at all the tension he found.
“You can’t expect to learn control over night, Lyle. Give yourself some time.”
The man nodded, but the tension under Todd’s fingers didn’t change. Returning his hand to the wheel,
Todd nibbled his bottom lip and said, “I had trouble shifting when I hit puberty. I didn’t have the heart
to tell my father.”
“Why not?” Lyle asked curiously. He rolled his head away from where it rested against the window,
so he could look at Todd. “Would he have been upset?”
“I don’t think so,” Todd replied slowly. “But he was the pack beta, so having a defective son would
have shamed him.”
Lyle frowned. “I thought shifting came naturally for you all.”
Todd grimaced, thinking back. “Normally it does, but my mother was human. She wasn’t my father’s
true  mate,  but  he’d  fallen  in  love  with  her  just  the  same.  The  pack  alpha  was  a  bigoted  man  who
thought  shifters  should  only  mate  with  other  shifters,  so  he  refused  to  give  his  permission  for  my
father to tell my mother about shifters and marry her.” He glanced over at Lyle and found he had his
mate’s  complete  attention,  and  the  man’s  eyes  were  wide  with  shock.  “Not  all  shifter  packs  are  as
liberal as this one.”
“I guess not,” Lyle said. He reached over and rested a hand on Todd’s thigh. “What happened?”
He could almost feel the concern radiating from Lyle, and it warmed Todd as he remembered those
first few years without his father there to guide him. “My father obeyed the alpha, but couldn’t give up
the  human  he  loved.  I  was  the  result  of  a  blown  condom.  My  mother  didn’t  tell  him.  When  she
realized he wouldn’t marry her, she moved away from the town, and him, and raised me by herself
until I was nine.”
He stared at the road in silence for a second, and Todd appreciated that Lyle let him think. Finally, he
swallowed hard and said, “On her way to work, three weeks before my tenth birthday, her car was hit
by  a  drunk  driver.  While  lying  on  her  deathbed,  she  told  me  about  my  dad  and  had  social  services
contact him. He came, my mother passed, and he took me to live with his pack.”
“Oh  my  god,  angel,”  Lyle  whispered,  his  hand  massaging  Todd’s  leg.  “That  must  have  been  so
traumatic for you!”
Todd nodded as he turned the truck into Declan’s driveway. He could hardly believe they’d arrived
already.  Something  in  Todd’s  heart  melted  when  Lyle  unbuckled  their  seatbelts,  slid  closer  on  the
bench seat, and pulled him into his lap, arranging him so he straddled Lyle’s legs and faced him.
He smiled. “I didn’t start telling you this for sympathy.”
“I know,” Lyle smirked, “but having you next to me and not being able to touch you was driving me
crazy.”
Liking that he affected his mate so much, he leaned forward and pecked his lips lightly. He was about
to kiss him again, when Lyle pulled back and frowned. “I thought you said Phillip is your brother.”
He  jerked  back,  surprised  by  the  comment,  then  grinned  impishly.  “Oh,  right. You  distracted  me.”
Lyle  shrugged,  but  waited  for  him  to  go  on. After  giving  him  another  peck,  he  said,  “Phillip  is  my
half-brother.  He’s  three  years  younger  than  me. After  my  mother  left  town,  my  father  found  his  true
mate. They had one son. Phillip.”
“How did he take getting a brother?”
Leaning into Lyle, he thought back over those first few years. “It was an adjustment for everyone. My

stepmother was extremely understanding, but she wasn’t my mom, you know?” He sighed and cuddled
closer. “I was just starting to feel like part of their family when puberty hit, and they explained about
shifters. It scared the hell out of me,” he whispered. “I fought it with everything in me, which only
made it worse.”
He trembled, remembering the pain, the confusion he felt as he went through puberty and he tried to
hold back his wolf. “Eventually it was Phillip who discovered I was getting hassled by younger kids
who’d already shifted. My father always said I hadn’t shifted yet because my mother was human, so
he wasn’t worried that I was what he called a late bloomer. Phillip pried the truth out of me.” Todd
grimaced. “My wolf had tried to come out a number of times, but I’d suppressed him, painfully, for
almost a year.”
Smiling fondly, Todd remembered that year. His brother had been so understanding, surprisingly so.
“Phillip had always been big for his age, and he’d shifted early. He appointed himself my bodyguard
and taught me how to shift, how to control my wolf. Once I could do that, it didn’t hurt to shift
anymore.” He sat up and smiled. “As you can see, he still feels the need to protect me.”
Lyle nuzzled his neck for a few seconds before whispering, “Well, now it’s my job. He’ll just have to
get used to it.”
Todd chuckled, enjoying the pinging sensations shooting down his neck and arms. “Yeah.”
“You’re mine, aren’t you, angel,” Lyle growled possessively.
The sound went straight to Todd’s cock. “Oh, yes,” he hissed, grinding his dick into Lyle’s.

“T

hank you for telling me about yourself, sweet angel,” Lyle crooned into Todd’s ear. He still

couldn’t believe everything that this sweet, seemingly innocent, man had gone through. And still his
heart was so big. Lyle felt himself falling just a little bit further for him.

Todd tucked his face into the crook of Lyle’s neck and whimpered. “You’ll find your own balance

soon, handsome. The balance between giving yourself over to your animal while still being able to
control it.”

Lyle smiled, kissing Todd’s temple. He loved the faith his man had in him. He’d do anything to

live up to those expectations. “With you here beside me, I know I can.”

Todd lifted his head, his eyes shining with warmth and acceptance. Lyle sealed his mouth over

Todd’s, nibbling his lips before sliding his tongue inside and mapping his mouth. Slipping his hands
under Todd’s shirt, he traced the bumps on the man’s spine. Suddenly, he couldn’t get close enough.
He needed more. He needed skin.

Jerking the door open with one hand, Lyle held Todd close and slid them both out of the truck.

Todd giggled when Lyle tossed him over his shoulder, and he grinned at the sound. He liked hearing
the joy in his mate’s laughter.

He ignored the amused expressions on Lark and Declan’s faces when he bounded through the

dining room and up the stairs. He didn’t stop moving until after he’d slammed their bedroom door
shut and tossed Todd onto their bed. Then he just stared, enjoying the sight of his angel’s gorgeous
smile as he lay sprawled across the comforter gazing up at him.

“Are you going to stand there all day?” Todd teased, sliding a hand down his chest to cup his

cock through the denim.

A strangled groan escaped Lyle, and his eyes narrowed. He dropped the suspenders of his

borrowed coveralls, letting them pool at his feet. Stepping out of them, Lyle reached down and
stroked his pulsing dick slowly. “You’re the one holding things up, my angel.”

Todd grinned up at him as he kicked off his shoes, shimmied out of his pants, his socks, and then

whipped his shirt over his head. His grin still firmly in place, he rested one hand on his chest and
plucked his nipples. With the other hand, Todd reached down and gripped his cock, pulling on it
firmly and arching into his own touch.

Snarling, Lyle leaped onto the bed. He grabbed Todd’s wrists, yanking his hands away from his

body. “You are a very naughty angel,” he declared.

Todd bucked his body, rubbing his leaking dick against him. “What are you going to do about it?”

Lyle’s brows lifted for a second, then a feral smile curved his lips as he remembered Todd’s earlier
enjoyment  of  a  slight  bite  of  pain.  “Naughty  mates  deserve  punishment.”  Before  Todd  could  react,
Lyle  released  Todd’s  arms  and  flipped  him  onto  his  stomach.  Lyle  gripped  Todd’s  hips  and  lifted
them before bringing the palm of one hand down hard on his ass.
Todd  howled,  but  Lyle  recognized  it  as  a  sign  of  enjoyment.  He  didn’t  let  him  move  as  he  reined
several more quick swats to the smaller man’s backside. By the third spank, Todd was rocking back
into the blows, lifting his butt higher as if searching for each one. Even though his mate’s rosy ass was
a beautiful sight, and his jerking cock proved how much he wanted to darken it to a cherry red, Lyle
remembered  that  this  was  supposed  to  be  a  punishment,  so  he  abruptly  stopped,  listening  for  a  few
seconds to Todd’s whimper of protest.
Lyle  released  his  hip  and  reached  down  to  grip  Todd’s  cock,  finding  it  swollen  and  dripping.  He

stroked it lightly, knowing it wasn’t nearly enough stimulation. Lyle’s own dick throbbed. He draped
himself over Todd, feeling the heat from the red skin of Todd’s ass soak into his cock as he rubbed it
along his crease.
“I’m going to pound into you, angel, and you’re not going to come until I tell you. Understand?” He
breathed the words against the sensitive skin of Todd’s neck, feeling the tremble go through the man
he held.
“Yes, mate. Take me now,” Todd pleaded.
As much as he wanted to, common sense prevailed. Todd moaned when Lyle pulled away to grab the
lube out of the nightstand. Grinning, he lifted Todd and positioned him near the headboard. “Grip the
bars,” he ordered.
Todd did it quickly, wrapping each hand around a spindle before widening his legs and sticking his
ass  out  in  invitation.  Lyle  poured  the  cool  liquid  onto  his  cock,  hissing  as  it  hit  his  sensitive  skin.
Then he poured a generous amount onto Todd’s crack. The smaller man jerked at the sudden sensation
of cold liquid on hot skin. Lyle quickly spread the dripping lube around Todd’s pucker before sliding
two fingers into his mate’s channel.
He  rubbed  his  free  hand  over  Todd’s  reddened  cheeks,  loving  the  skin  contrast,  as  he  quickly
stretched  his  mate.  It  didn’t  take  long  for  Todd  to  be  rocking  back  onto  his  fingers,  moaning  softly,
begging for more with his actions and sounds. When Lyle pulled his fingers away, Todd’s ass thrust
back, searching for the stimulation. Lyle moved the head of his prick to Todd’s opening, but caught
his mate’s hips before he could impale himself on it.
Snarling, Todd glanced over his shoulder at Lyle. Lyle grinned and held Todd’s gaze as he rammed
into Todd, filling him with one thrust. through Lyle’s chest as tight squeezing and rippling around his
length. He wrapped his arms around Todd’s chest, feeling the smaller man lean into him, as if trying
to merge their bodies.
Lyle stayed still for several long seconds, relishing the sensations racking his body. Todd’s whimpers
and struggle to move his hips caught Lyle’s attention and his grip tightened. “Stop,” he ordered.
Todd stilled, although he didn’t seem able to quiet his whimpers. He nuzzled the back of Todd’s neck,
licking and nipping. When he could stay still no longer, he buried his face in Todd’s nape, pulled his
dick  out  and  slammed  back  home. After  that,  Lyle  couldn’t  control  his  hips,  and  he  hammered  into
Todd  again  and  again,  relishing  the  ripple  and  squeeze  of  Todd’s  inner  muscles  as  he  rocked  back
into each thrust.
As the tingle started at the base of his spine and his balls pulled tight against his body, he could feel
his teeth shifting, sharpening. He recognized his animal’s desire to bite, to claim the man he fucked.
Clenching  his  jaw,  he  refused  to  give  in  to  the  urge.  Instead,  he  reached  down  and  gripped  Todd’s
cock, jacking it with the same rhythm of his hips.
“Now, angel,” he ground out.
Todd  howled  as  his  penis  exploded,  dispelling  streams  of  cum  across  the  pillow,  headboard,  and
Lyle’s hand. The tight squeeze caused by Todd’s jerking body threw Lyle over the edge. Lyle’s cock
spewed his seed, burying it deep inside Todd’s ass. Lyle trembled and twitched, riding the high of his
release.
A guttural vibration rose heat enveloped his dick,
When finally able to string a coherent thought, Lyle carefully pulled his softening cock free of Todd’s
body. He unwrapped Todd’s fingers from the posts, pulled him close, and dropped them both onto the
bed, vowing to clean them up in just a few minutes.
But first, he wanted to hold this man that had so quickly wormed his way into his heart.

The evening couldn’t come fast enough for Lyle. He hated being cooped up with very little to

occupy him. He’d spent several hours that morning on the computer pouring over sites to learn more
about the Nile Monitor.

They were interesting creatures, powerful and quick. They could be deadly when they attacked

with their whiplike tail or if they managed to get their strong jaws latched around something. A
carnivorous animal, they ate a wide range of food from carrion, to eggs, to fish or even squirrels,
often gulping their food down whole.

Lyle shivered at that, wondering if shifters ate in their animal form often.

He settled on the bed and ran his palms over his face, then splayed his fingers around the tendons of
his neck and gently massaged them. He’d done very little but sleep and rest over the past few days,
but still he felt fatigue dragging him under. Knowing if he wanted to keep up with the other men this
evening he’d need his strength. He let sleep take him.
The sound of footsteps climbing the stairs pulled Lyle from his nap. He lifted his head when he heard
a gentle knock on his door. “Come in,” he called.
Lark appeared, a smile on his pale, fine-boned features. “Hey there.” He set the tray he carried on the
nightstand, giving Lyle time to drag himself up to lean on the headboard. Lark turned and handed him
a glass of water and a couple large Ibuprofen. “Here. These are the eight hundreds,” he said with a
wink. “I’m giving them to you now with a snack because if you practice shifting with the guys later
you may need them.”
A  smirk  curved  the  corner  of  Lyle’s  mouth  and  he  downed  the  offered  pills.  “Good  idea,”  he  said
after swallowing. “Thanks.”
“Sure.” Lark’s smile softened. “I hate to see anyone in pain. That’s why I became a doctor.” Next he
settled a tray with a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. “Eat up, then come downstairs. You can help
me pack your picnic.”
“Picnic?  I  thought  we  were  just  going  for  a  hike,”  he  said,  before  taking  a  large  bite  of  eggs  and
moaning appreciatively. “Damn. Why does food taste so much better now?”
Lark  shrugged.  “Heightened  senses,  probably,”  he  replied.  “And  I  got  a  call  from  Gordon  with  the
change of plans. He wanted to make certain you’d be ready in thirty minutes, and when he heard we
had  leftover  potato  salad,  he  asked  if  he  could  commandeer  it.”  Lark  laughed,  heading  out  of  the
room. “Seems the big guy likes your mate’s cooking.”
A flash of jealousy spiked through Lyle and a growl rolled through his chest. Biting off the sound, he
took a deep breath and forced calm through him. He lifted his gaze to Lark and grimaced. “Sorry.”
“Claim him. You’ll feel better.”
Before he could even formulate a reply to Lark’s parting comment, the man disappeared out the door.
“Shit,” he grunted. Taking a bite of toast he shook his head. They’d just met, so how could everyone
just expect him to bind them together? At least Todd understood his desire to wait.  Besides,  there’s
no way in hell I’m going to jeopardize Todd’s life by binding us together until I’ve managed to get
my shit together!
He already liked the man way too much to do that.

Once done eating, Lyle slipped from the bed and pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt, needing it to

fight the chill he always seemed to have when Todd wasn’t around. He paused while pulling on a
worn pair of Adidas, realizing it could be because his animal was a reptile. He’d have to remember
to ask someone about that sometime. He grinned at the sneakers, loving that Grady had thought to grab
them. They were comfortable, and reminded him of his life before…well, just before.

A sigh slipped from his lips. Things would never be the same again. But do I really want them to

be? I may have never met Todd…

Shoving his confusing thoughts aside, Lyle joined Lark in the kitchen. Between the two, it only

took a few minutes to make nearly a dozen turkey sandwiches and pack the potato salad into a
container. He took the opportunity to lick the spoon and hummed his approval. “Yeah, I can see why
Gordon would like this so much.”

“Well, sure. As an elephant, this is probably better than steak to him.”

“You better not let Grady hear you call him that,” Lyle snapped, his brows lifting in shock at Lark’s
words. “Just cause he’s a little overweight doesn’t mean—”
“Oh,  no!”  Lark  cut  him  off.  “Gordon  really is  an  elephant.”  At  his  non-comprehending  look,  Lark
laughed. “He’s an Asian elephant shifter.”
Lyle  paused,  his  hand  hovering  over  the  basket,  still  holding  the  squeeze  mayonnaise  bottle.  It  took
him a second to catch on to what Lark had said. His brows shot up. “Really? I guess I hadn’t heard
that.” He scoffed. “Sorry for snapping, man.”
Lark laughed. “You were defending a friend. I think it’s great.”
The  slamming  of  the  front  door  halted  their  conversation,  and  while  closing  the  flaps  on  the  picnic
basket, he followed Lark’s gaze and looked toward the hallway. Declan appeared around the corner,
and  he  only  had  eyes  for  his  mate.  The  big  alpha  male  opened  his  arms  and  Lark  squealed  as  he
launched himself at Declan. The two men came together in a heated kiss as the little blond wrapped
his arms and legs around Declan like an octopus and held on tight, trusting the alpha to hold him.
Another image super-imposed itself over Lyle’s eyes, and he imagined himself holding Todd like that,
no matter that he only had a couple inches on the man. He could hear Todd’s shout of joy at his return
and  could  almost  feel  the  smaller  man’s  body  in  his  arms.  He  sucked  in  a  deep  breath  and  smiled.
Yup, I’ve got it damn bad already!
“Hello, Lyle. How are ye feeling?”
Declan’s deep voice brought Lyle’s attention back to the present. “I’m good. I’m looking forward to
getting out of the house for a bit.”
“I  can  certainly  understand  that,”  Declan  replied,  clapping  him  on  the  shoulder  good  naturedly.  He
opened his mouth to say more, but stopped when a loud knock pounded on the door before they heard
it swing open and closed. Several pairs of footsteps sounded from the hallway. Seconds later, three
large men sauntered into the room. Declan turned and greeted them.
One of them strode toward Lyle and clasped him in a quick, one armed man-hug. “It’s good to see ye
up and around, Lyle. We were all worried.”
Lyle grinned at Cliff MacDougal. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back at poker to take your money in no time,”
he promised.
“That’s good to hear, man,” Cliff replied with a grin, “but it’s me who’ll clean ye out.”
“You can try,” Lyle quipped. “You can try.”
He turned when he heard whispered words between Declan and another dark-haired man. Seeing that
he’d caught his gaze, the alpha paused and introduced the other two men. “This is Shane Alvaro, my
beta, and this is Nick Greely. Nick and Cliff are both trackers for the pack.”
Lyle held out a hand, shaking each in turn. “Nice to meet you,” he replied automatically.
Shane’s grip tightened slightly, not releasing his hand, and Lyle’s gaze narrowed as he searched the
other man’s brown eyes. “What?” he snarled.
A low rumble from Shane’s throat raised Lyle’s ire higher, and he could feel his beast hiss in anger.
“Just because you’re not officially pack yet, doesn’t mean you can disrespect me,” Shane growled.
It  took  several  seconds  for  Lyle  to  push  back  the  anger  and  realize  just  what  the  other  man  meant.

Shit! Declan introduced him as his beta. Much to his monitor’s irritation, Lyle forced
whispered
offense.”
his gaze down, dropping eye contact, and roughly, “My apologies, beta. I meant no
“Accepted,” Shane replied gruffly.

Declan cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention, but he looked at Lark when he spoke.

“We’re going to the office to conference call with Carson. Will ye bring us some sandwiches, please,
baby?”

Although it was posed as a question, they all knew it wasn’t, but Lark didn’t seem to mind the

order. “Sure thing, stud,” Lark said, pecking Declan’s lips before dancing— yeah, he actually danced
—around the kitchen and started pulling out more turkey and bread. The four wolves strode from the
room.

“Hey,” Lyle murmured, going to the counter and helping to make more sandwiches. “Where’s

Carson? I thought he was part of the forest rangers.”

Lark flashed him a smile. “He’s also a wolf. Grady found information that there could have been

another sect of scientists doing experiments years ago in Georgia. Carson is down there trying to find
out more.”

“He’s a wolf, too?” He paused where he was slathering mayonnaise on a slice of bread. “How

the hell did I miss that?”

Laughing lightly, Lark nodded. “Yeah. They’re all over the place, huh?”

“That they are,” Lyle whispered. He’d only met the big Native American a couple times, but Grady
had never mentioned he was a shifter, too. Maybe it had to do with the other man’s reclusive nature.
Grady probably didn’t feel he had the right to share that information.
He heard the slamming of the door again, but this time it was the wonderful scent that seized up his
mind,  making  his  hand  pause  over  the  slice  of  bread  he  held.  He  dropped  the  knife  and  bread  on  a
plate and turned just as Todd walked into the kitchen. A sound more like a hiss than a growl escaped
his  throat  as  he  stalked  toward  his  mate  and  swept  him  into  his  arms.  He  lowered  his  head  and
claimed  Todd’s  lips  in  a  deep,  spine-tingling  kiss.  Lyle  savored  the  little  wolf’s  taste  as  he
responded enthusiastically, and their tongues tangled.
Wolf  whistles  and  laughter  finally  broke  through  Lyle’s  lustful  haze.  Lifting  his  head,  he  realized
Todd now rested on the counter and he stood between the man’s legs, their bodies plastered together
with  his  arms  wrapped  around  the  wolf.  He  rested  his  head  against  Todd,  struggling  to  catch  his
breath. He smiled. “Welcome home, my angel.”
“Thanks,” Todd whispered, a grin splitting his kissswollen lips.
After he felt certain his and Todd’s erections weren’t completely noticeable in their jeans, he helped
Todd off the counter. “What can I say? I was really happy to see him.”
Lark laughed and picked up the plate. “Yeah. Really, really happy. You all get out of here and enjoy
your picnic,” he added with another laugh before he headed down the hall with the plate and a twelve
pack of beer.
“I need to change real quick before we head out,” Todd said.
“Sure.  We’ll  meet  you  on  the  porch,”  Lyle  replied,  giving  him  one  more  kiss  before  he  let  him  go.
Todd scampered from the room and bounded up the stairs. Lyle smiled after him, watching him go.
A  hand  on  his  back  caught  his  attention,  and  he  turned  to  see  a  smirking  Grady.  “That  was  quite  a
sight,” he teased.
Lyle flipped him off and grabbed the basket. “Let’s go.” He heard laughter behind him and couldn’t

stop the grin. Yeah, he’d given them a hell of a sight and didn’t feel any remorse about it.
He  heard  the  other  two  men’s  footsteps  and  paused  to  look  at  them.  Grady  had  an  arm  wrapped
around  Gordon,  and  his  head  was  bent  to  whisper  something  into  the  other  man’s  ear  before  he
nuzzled it. To his surprise, Gordon shook his head and frowned at the tiger shifter.
“Tell him,” Gordon ordered.
He saw the slight tension fill Grady’s shoulders and he nodded once. Turning to Lyle, Grady told him,
“Bobby Truman stopped into the office today.”
The name had his brows lifting. “Oh, I should have thought to contact him. Is he okay?”
“He  seemed  fine,”  Grady  said  slowly.  He  opened  his  mouth,  clearly  hesitating.  Lyle  lifted  a  brow,
prompting Grady to admit, “This isn’t the first time he’s dropped by.”
Lyle groaned. “Shit! This complicates things,” he grumbled, running a hand over his face. He didn’t
know  what  the  hell  he’d  tell  his  ex-boyfriend…well,  soon  to  be  exboyfriend,  since  they’d  never
actually broken up. Lyle really thought Bobby would have just moved on when he disappeared. The
younger man was such a party boy.
“Hey, is everything all right?”
Todd’s voice made Lyle turn to face the doors. The shorter man now wore comfortable looking blue
jeans and a green polo shirt. He held out his arms, suddenly needing to hold his mate. To his eternal
gratitude, Todd didn’t hesitate to come to him. He wrapped him up, ducked his head, and tucked his
nose into Todd’s neck. Inhaling deeply, he breathed in Todd’s relaxing scent.
Todd’s hands rubbed his back and he purred, “Hey, handsome. What’s wrong?”
“I’m  fucking  cheating  on  my  boyfriend  with  you.”  Lyle  shuddered,  unable  to  believe  those  words
actually came out of his mouth. When Todd tensed, he forced his head up so he could see the shorter
man’s face. “I’m so sorry.”
To his surprise, Todd cupped his cheek. “No. It’s my fault. I knew you had a boyfriend before you
were  taken,  and  it  didn’t  even  occur  to  me  to  say  anything.  I—”  He  dipped  his  chin  and  broke  eye
contact. “I’m sorry.”
Lyle shook his head. “Even if you knew I’d been seeing someone, I came at you pretty strong. There
was no way for you to know I hadn’t broken up with Bobby before getting kidnapped.” He crooked a
finger  under  Todd’s  chin  and  lifted  his  face  so  he  could  stare  into  his  angel’s  eyes.  “I’ll  fix  this.  I
don’t want anyone but you.” He wouldn’t allow Todd to break their gaze until the pretty man nodded.
“Well, then,” Grady said, drawing their attention. “No time like the present.” He pulled out his cell
phone and dialed a number. “Bobby Truman? Yes, this is Detective Stryker. I need you to meet me at
this address in twenty minutes.” After rattling off an address Lyle didn’t recognize, he paused before
saying, “Yes, that’s right. I’ll see in twenty.”
Hanging  up  his  phone,  he  glanced  around  at  the  group.  “Well,  it  looks  like  our  picnic  has  been
delayed for an hour. We’ll take Gordon’s sedan.”
“Where the hell are we going?” Lyle asked, shocked at the sudden turn of events.
“My offices,” Gordon replied, grabbing the picnic basket from where Lyle rested it on a table. “I’ll
put this away for when we get back.”
A surreal feeling settled over Lyle as he allowed a tense Todd to lead him to the car and help him
inside.  A  soft  kiss  on  his  cheek  jump-started  his  brain.  Lyle  turned  and  smiled  at  Todd.   Yes,  I’ll
definitely fix this.

Chapter Eight

odd kept his hand wrapped in Lyle’s, praying that his mate’s words were true. That Lyle wanted

Todd and not this human they were going to see. He’d been so happy to get home, feeling ecstatic by
the welcome he’d received from Lyle, and now this.

They pulled up to a small business complex where Gordon kept his psychiatrist practice, and they

all piled out. Gordon let them into the building and they settled onto the couches in the waiting room.

To his surprise, and immense relief, Lyle pulled Todd onto the couch next to him and wrapped an

arm around his waist, tucking him close. Lyle buried his nose into the crook of Todd’s neck and
nuzzled his skin. Todd wrapped a hand around Lyle’s neck and massaged it gently. “Everything
okay?” he asked tentatively.

Lyle lifted his head and smiled, warmth filling his eyes. “It will be. I find your scent relaxing.”

“That’s as it should be,” Todd whispered.
Cocking his head, Lyle asked, “What do you mean?”
“Our mate’s presence relaxes us when Gordon explained, then smirked. “Or it distraction.”
A lecherous grin lit up Lyle’s face as he gazed at Todd. “I can certainly believe that.”
Before he could formulate a reply, a knock on the door we’re upset,” drives us to caught everyone’s
attention. He couldn’t stop his body from tensing as Grady rose and opened the door. This time it was
Lyle’s  turn  to  soothe,  lifting  his  arm  and  gripping  his  neck,  massaging  gently.  Todd  settled  back
against the couch, pressing more firmly into Lyle’s comforting grip.
Todd had to admit, the man who stepped through the door could only be described as hot, in a cute,
twinky kind of way. He stood five-foot-eight, had thick black hair cut into an artfully messy do, and
vibrant green eyes. His slender body moved with a dancer’s grace.
The human glanced around the room. When his gaze landed on Lyle, his eyes rounded and he rushed
forward.  He  dropped  to  his  knees  and  reached  for  Lyle’s  hand.  Todd  had  to  bite  back  a  growl  as
Bobby touched his mate.
“Oh,  God,  Lyle,  I’ve  been  so  worried!”  His  big,  green  eyes  swept  over  Lyle’s  face.  “You’ve  lost
weight. What happened? Where have you been?” he whispered, reaching a hand up to touch his face.
Todd couldn’t stop the growl that rumbled through him at that point. The sight of this human touching
Lyle  so  intimately  sent  jealousy  unlike  anything  he’d  ever  felt  before  rushing  through  his  system.
Bobby’s shocked gaze landed on him, and Todd leaped to his feet. He wrapped his arms around his
midsection and stalked to the other side of the room before his wolf could do something they’d both
regret.
“Todd!” Lyle’s surprised voice echoed across the room.
He  glanced  back  and  saw  Lyle  standing  in  front  of  the  couch.  For  a  second,  his  concerned  gaze
focused on him before dropping to the young man still gripping his hand. Gordon rose and crossed to
Todd. The elephant shifter dropped a hand to his shoulder and squeezed gently. “It’ll be fine, Todd,”
he softly reassured.
Lyle stiffened at seeing the contact, then looked at Bobby and grimaced. “Bobby, I was kidnapped and
tortured by a group of people from one of my cases. I can’t tell you more about them because the case
isn’t closed.” He lifted a hand and cupped Bobby’s face. “This is hard for me,” he whispered. “We’d
only been dating a couple months. We hadn’t even discussed being exclusive.”
Bobby’s jaw dropped, and he jerked away from Lyle. “Oh. Oh, I guess…I guess I just assumed…”
He turned and headed toward the door, a frown creasing his brow.

“Wait,” Lyle cried, lunging forward. He grabbed Bobby, wrapped his arms around him, and crushed
the human’s back to his chest. The move made Todd cringe, but his mate’s scent told him there was
nothing  even  remotely  sexual  about  the  embrace.  Instead,  it  was  meant  to  comfort,  and  only  his
heightened senses allowed him to hear Lyle’s next words. “Even though we never discussed it, I was
faithful to you. There was no one else while we were dating.” Then he sighed. “Not until Todd.”
“Todd?” Bobby whispered, glancing to the left where Todd stood watching.
“Yes. He was at the hospital every day. Every time I managed to wake, he was there.” Lyle looked
over his shoulder at Todd, and something flashed behind his mate’s eyes. “He’s been through what I
have. Abuse.  Experiments.  He  helped  me  cope.  Helped  me  understand  how  to  go  on.”  Lyle’s  eyes
filled with tears, but he blinked them back. “I fell in love with him.”
Todd gasped, unable to believe what he’d heard. “You love me?”
“I do, Todd. You’re the angel that saved me.”
Bobby  gripped  Lyle’s  arms,  gently  disengaging  them  and  stepped  out  of  his  embrace.  He  turned  to
face them and swallowed. “I’m glad you’re okay, Lyle.” He smiled and glanced between them. “And
for  the  record?  I’m  happy  you’ve  found  love,  but  I  think  you  should  be  holding him  when  you  say
that.”
Lyle’s brows shot up, and he glanced around the room. “Really? Are you sure you’re okay?”
After taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Bobby’s smile turned understanding. “Yeah. Let’s
face it,” he added with a slight shrug, “We had fun together, but I got the feeling you were about done
with the bar scene stage of your life.”
Lyle smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Bobby.”
The slender brunet winked at Todd. “Take good care of him. He’s a keeper.”
Todd crossed to Lyle and wrapped an arm around his waist, his wolf finally settling. “I will.”
“There is one more thing, Bobby,” Grady said, stepping forward. “Don’t spread it around that you’ve
seen Lyle. It still may not be safe for him.”
Bobby’s eyes rounded. “Of course! I won’t say anything to anyone until I hear from you otherwise.”
Grady grinned. “Good man.”
They watched in silence as Bobby exited the building, climbed into his car, and drove away. After a
few seconds of silence, Todd tilted his head back and smiled up at Lyle. “I love you, too.”
Lyle’s grin lighted his brown eyes beyond anything than Todd had seen. Seconds later, the light turned
feral and his mate snarled, “Mine!” Then his lips crashed down on Todd’s and he found himself the
recipient of a long, slow, thorough kiss.
When  it  became  imperative  to  breathe,  Todd  pulled  his  lips  away.  He  found  himself  looking  into
Lyle’s disgruntled face. He grinned. “Yeah, I’m yours.”
They would have continued to stare at each other for the gods knew how long but Grady slapped them
both  on  the  back.  “I’m  glad  we  got  that  settled.”  Grady’s  look  was  serious  as  he  stared  at  Lyle.  “I
knew how seriously you took being faithful to a guy. I’m sorry it took me so long to say something. I
just…”  He  shook  his  head.  “I  wanted  you  to  have  a  chance  with  Todd,”  he  finally  finished  with  a
shrug.
Lyle  stared  at  Grady  for  a  moment  before  nodding.  “I  understand.  I  thank  you,  my  friend.”  Lyle
grabbed Grady and pulled him into a quick hug.
When they released, the tiger shifter grinned. “Is anyone else hungry? I’m ready for that picnic!”
Todd laughed, gave Lyle one more squeeze, more to assure his wolf than himself, and then nodded.
“Yup. I’m definitely hungry!”
Thirty  minutes  later  had  them  all  traipsing  through  the  woods,  Lyle  and  Gordon  each  carrying  a

basket. Todd looked around at the trees, inhaling deeply. He grabbed Lyle’s hand and pulled him to a
stop. “Do you mind if I go for a run?”
From the startled expression that crossed Lyle’s face and then quickly cleared, Todd knew his mate
had been confused for a second as to his meaning. Then Lyle smiled and shrugged. “Sure.” He looked
at Grady. “When will we reach the clearing?”
Grady grinned. “Walking as humans, we’ll be there in about an hour.” He turned to Gordon, his look
suddenly hopeful.
Gordon chuckled, and waved a hand. “Go ahead, love.”
The  look  on  Grady’s  face  appeared  as  if  Gordon  had  granted  him  the  greatest  treasure  in  life,  or
possibly given his cat a bowl of cream. Grady grinned. “I’ll run with you. It’s been a couple weeks
since I’ve gotten a chance to let my tiger out.”
Todd nodded. “Awesome.” He turned and kissed Lyle. He’d meant it as a quick peck, but instead his
mate pulled him close and deepened the kiss for several seconds before releasing him and resting his
forehead against his own.
“Stay safe, angel.”
“I will,” Todd promised.
“Don’t worry,” Grady said. “We’ll head toward Laremie’s Rock and then to the clearing. We’ll beat
you guys there easy!”
After  Lyle  released  him,  Todd  quickly  pulled  off  his  clothes,  folded  them,  and  handed  them  to  the
suddenly frowning man. He gave him a questioning look, and Lyle grimaced. “I guess it didn’t occur
to me that you’d have to get naked in front of others,” he growled.
“Oh,”  Todd  whispered.  He  reached  up  and  traced  Lyle’s  face,  smoothing  out  the  lines.  “It’s
something you’ll have to get used to, Lyle. Shifters aren’t big on modesty.”
Lyle  blew  out  a  breath  and  nodded.  He  pecked  a  quick  kiss  onto  Todd’s  lips  and  took  the  clothes.
“Have a fun run, angel.”
Todd  smiled,  took  a  few  steps  away,  and  called  upon  his  wolf.  The  changes  swept  through  him,
making his limbs pop, muscles contort, and skin ripple. Fur sprouted, and seconds later he shook out
his fur and settled it into place. Opening his eyes to the shades of gray around him, he yipped happily
and danced around his mate.
Laughing,  Lyle  buried  his  hands  in  Todd’s  fur  and  ruffled  it.  “Go  play,  angel.  I’ll  see  you  at  the
clearing.”
Todd chuffed once then headed toward the woods. Looking over his shoulder, he spotted the Bengal
tiger.  The  big  cat  growled  low  and  then  headed  toward  him.  Todd  shivered,  always  impressed  by
Grady’s grace and power. When he bumped his large head into Todd’s side, it practically knocked
him over. Todd snapped playfully at the cat before tucking his tail close and taking off into the woods.
They’d been running for thirty minutes when the pain stabbed into his hip. He yipped in surprise, but
before  he  could  figure  out  what  had  happened,  his  vision  swam,  his  limbs  grew  heavy,  and  he
collapsed. Dimly he heard a roar, but couldn’t move his head to see what had happened to Grady. A
human  loomed  into  Todd’s  line  of  sight,  one  he  recognized.  Fear  speared  through  him  right  before
unconsciousness descended.

Chapter Nine

ordon led the way through the woods, Lyle following close behind him. True to Grady’s

statement, it took them almost an hour to reach the clearing. When the trees broke, Lyle sucked in a
breath. He could feel his animal’s excitement upon seeing the river and waterfall. It was an odd
sensation. One he hoped he could learn to get used to.

The elephant shifter glanced over at him and grinned. From the look in Gordon’s dark gray eyes,

Lyle wondered what expression he saw on his face, then Gordon said, “I had the same reaction you
just did the first time Grady brought me here. Of course, that was because he was trying to get me to
lose control of my animal, so I’d let it out to play,” he added ruefully.

“How’d that work out for you?” He’d never heard of shifters not letting their animals out, but

what did he really know about it?

“I fought it trunk and tail,” Gordon replied, snorting as he headed across the clearing. He set

down the basket and blanket on a log and turned back to him. Lyle thought he saw a haunted look
flicker across Gordon’s features, but it was gone so fast he may have been mistaken.

“I didn’t grow up with shifters, so I didn’t understand that letting your animal out to romp in a safe

environment on a regular basis made it easier to control,” he explained. “Grady brought me here to
give my elephant a safe place to play. It’s done wonders for me.”

“Huh,” Lyle responded. He set down his own basket and crossed his arms. “So if you let your

animal out regularly, he’s easier to control.”

“Right.”

“Well, what if it hurts to let him out?” Lyle asked. “I’m supposed to allow myself to go through agony
every week just for an animal?”
Gordon smiled faintly. “The animal is part of you, Lyle,” he said. “The only reason it hurts is because
you fight the shift. Relax your mind and body. Give yourself over to the animal and it will be easier.”
“But if I give myself over to the animal, how can I control it?” he asked dubiously.
“You  don’t  control  the  shift,”  Gordon  explained.  “The  animal  does.  That’s  why  you  hurt.  Once  the
shift  is  complete,  then  you  exert  control  again.”  The  bigger  man  grinned  suddenly.  “Don’t  ever  tell
Grady I used this analogy, but it’s like training a tiger to perform in the circus. You gain your animal’s
trust, then it will obey on command.”
Lyle frowned. “Well, how do I earn its trust?”
“By not fighting its instincts,” Gordon answered. Lyle stared at the ground, trying to wrap his mind
around how to do that. The other shifter’s hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed gently. “I didn’t
say it was easy, but part of that instinct involves your mate.”
Letting out a slow breath, he nodded once. “I get what you’re saying.”
After a moment of silence, Gordon asked, “Can I ask why you’re waiting? You and Todd seem to fit
so well.”
From Gordon’s expression, Lyle knew the shrink wanted to say more, ask more questions, analyze his
answers. But Lyle felt grateful the man held his tongue. He smirked and said, “Part of it is the control
problem. I sure don’t want to cause Todd pain because of my lack of control.”
“Ah, well—”
“Hey, doc,” Lyle cut in, looking around the clearing. “Shouldn’t they have been here by now?”
“Yeah…” Gordon said, drawing out the word. “They should really have gotten here before us.”
“Do you know where the rock  is  that  Grady  was  talking  about?”  Lyle  supposed  at  some  point  he’d

become really familiar with the woods, but at the moment he’d be lost without Gordon.
He  watched  Gordon  stare  at  the  ground  in  thought  for  a  moment  before  nodded.  “I  think  I  do. You
want to head that way?”
Lyle  couldn’t  explain  his  sudden  unease,  but  something  was  telling  him  to  find  his  mate.  His  eyes
widened in realization. “Shit. My animal really wants to go find Todd.”
“Well, I did say trust your instincts,” Gordon said. “Let’s go.”
He knew Gordon tried to sound lighthearted, but the big shifter didn’t quite pull it off. Evidently, Lyle
wasn’t the only one whose animal was jumpy.
They  left  the  clearing,  the  pine  trees  closing  around  them  again.  Instead  of  being  beautiful  and
majestic, the forest now appeared sinister and cold as fear iced its way into Lyle’s heart. Gordon set
a  fast  pace,  climbing  over  logs  and  shoving  through  brush,  pushing  them  to  move  faster  than  an
average human could go.
Gordon  stopped  suddenly  and  Lyle  almost  ran  into  him.  He  opened  his  mouth  to  question  him,  but
Gordon held up a hand and he snapped his mouth shut. When Gordon took a long inhale through his
nose, Lyle followed his lead and did the same.
A faint lemongrass scent hit his nostrils and he snarled softly. “I know that scent.”
“So do I,” Gordon whispered. “Which way is it coming from?”
“You’re asking me?”
Gordon frowned. “Elephants aren’t known for their tracking abilities!” he hissed. “You’re a predator.
Trust your animal’s instincts!”
He  glared  at  the  canopy  of  branches  above  them  for  several  seconds,  before  allowing  his  eyes  to
close. Lyle inhaled again, slowly this time, taking in as much scent as he could. He had the sudden
urge to stick out his tongue. Following Gordon’s advice, he opened his mouth and trusted his animal.
Lyle’s tongue flicked out, almost of its own accord. Gordon gasped from next to him, but he ignored it
as he turned slowly in a circle, flicking his tongue out again and again. His eyes snapped open. “This
way.”
“Holy fuck,” Gordon whispered, following him closely. “I thought partial shifts only happened while
mating.”
“What do you mean?” Lyle asked distractedly.  Why the hell did the man want to talk about shifting
now? They had mates to find!
“Because your tongue was forked. It was fucking freaky.”
Gordon’s muttered explanation froze Lyle in his tracks. He looked over his shoulder at the man and
saw  his  pale,  shocked  face.  “No  shit.  It  didn’t  even  hurt,”  he  commented  in  wonder.  Then  he
remembered why he’d been scenting in the first place. “I’ll worry about it later. Let’s go.”
It only took five minutes of hiking for Lyle to realize he could now smell Todd’s heady, earthy scent
as well. They crept forward, moving as swiftly as possible without making a sound. The forest had
gone still around them, telling them they weren’t the only ones who’d passed that way in the last few
minutes.
“There,” Gordon whispered, grabbing Lyle’s arm and halting his progress.
He  peered  through  the  trees.  What  he  saw  made  his  blood  run  cold.  Three  men  were  busy  rolling
Grady’s  unconscious  tiger  onto  a  large  litter.  Todd’s  wolf  was  already  fastened  to  a  second,  much
smaller litter.
“Hurry up, Terry,” one man ordered. “We need to get out of here before any of their friends realize
they’re gone.”
Lyle could feel his monitor pushing at his mind, trying desperately to emerge. A glance in Gordon’s

direction  showed  Lyle  that  the  elephant  wasn’t  fairing  much  better.  “What  the  hell  are  we  going  to
do?” Lyle snarled, anger pulsing through his veins.
“I’m not sure,” Gordon replied. “Their leader, Lemongrass, he’s not just a human anymore. Whatever
they’ve done to him has given him shifter strength and healing abilities. There’s no way to know about
the other two. Plus they have those damn tranq guns.”
A low hiss tried to rumble through him, but he shut it down, unwilling to give away their presence.
“Can your elephant get through these trees?”
It took a moment for Gordon to answer, but finally he replied, “Yeah. I’ll need to circle around to the
north before shifting though.”
“How many hits can you safely take?”
That  got  Gordon’s  attention,  and  the  other  shifter  turned  to  look  at  him.  “No  more  than  three. And
that’s if they don’t shoot me with an actual gun, if I can stay in animal form, and if you can get me to
Travis and Lark for detox.”
Lyle clenched his jaw. “Those are a lot of ifs.”
“Yeah,” Gordon whispered.
He could tell from the man’s tone that he didn’t like it either. Turning to Gordon, he caught the man’s
eye. “We can always follow and see where they take them.”
Gordon lifted his lip in a sneer. “No. I’d never be able to live with myself if I sat back and allowed
Grady to be captured. What’s your plan?”
“Good man,” Lyle replied. “I feel the same about Todd.” He let the outline of his plan firm up in his
mind as he took in the tree branches overhead. “After you walk me through shifting, head north and
give me a distraction. I’ll take care of the rest.”
That had Gordon’s large hand gripping his arm and drawing Lyle’s attention to his worried face. “Are
you sure?”
Hell, no!“Yes. I can do this.”
Gordon sucked in a breath as he stared at him. “Okay.”
They  hiked  a  hundred  yards  away  before  Lyle  stripped  down  and  knelt.  He  remembered  Declan’s
instruction  to  clear  his  mind  and  to  feel  for  his  animal.  Gordon’s  words  cut  into  his  concentration.
“You’re thinking too hard. Just relax. Let your lizard come to you. He’ll do the rest.”
As  soon  as  he  released  the  next  slow  exhale,  he  felt  his  monitor  stretch  in  his  mind.  The  monitor’s
presence expanded, gaining control. He struggled not to try to rein it in or control it, instead letting it
have free rein as it took over his body.
Instead  of  pain,  warmth  covered  him  as  if  he  were  stepping  into  a  steam-filled  room.  He  felt  his
muscles pull, his bones shift, and his skull contort, but there was no pain, only an odd buzz, as if he’d
had  a  few  beers.  His  body  shivered  and  he  opened  his  eyes.  The  vibrant  colors  that  he  associated
with  being  in  his  animal  form  exploded  across  his  vision.  Scents  and  sounds  bombarded  him.  He
blinked,  trying  to  make  sense  of  everything.  Pine  and  earth  and  sage  mixed  together  with  a  hint  of
water, and underneath that he caught his mate’s scent, but it had an acrid tinge to it that he recognized
instantly. Fear!
A low hiss escaped him, and he started moving, intent on getting to Todd.
“Whoa, Lyle! Hold it!”
The  whispered  command  brought  Lyle  to  a  stop,  and  he  swung  his  neck  around  to  focus  on  the
speaker.  His  tail  swished  in  agitation  as  he  flicked  his  tongue  out.  The  scent  of  a  large  mammal
crossed his tongue. Elephant. Gordon.
The circumstances came back to him, and Lyle reined in the monitor’s desire to charge toward Todd.

He reminded his animal of what was at stake. He hissed softly at the other shifter.
Gordon stared at him for a second before nodding. “Okay. Give me five minutes to circle around and
get into position. I’ll give you the distraction you need.”
It took Lyle a second to remind the monitor of what Gordon spoke about, then it bobbed its head in
semblance of a nod. Gordon took that as confirmation and began moving through the woods as quickly
as he could while still remaining silent.
Lyle couldn’t say he had much of a plan, but he headed back toward camp, trying not to cringe when
every  animal  fell  silent  as  he  passed.  Flicking  out  his  tongue,  he  lifted  his  head  to  look  at  the  tree
canopy.  Twisting  his  head  this  way  and  that,  the  monitor  took  in  how  the  branches  interlocked.  He
crossed to a trunk and began to climb, digging his threeinch nails into the thick bark. He propelled his
massive, sinuous body up and up.
Maneuvering  onto  a  branch,  he  scented  the  air  before  choosing  a  direction  and  headed  toward  the
strange  human’s  camp.  It  took  him  several  minutes,  but  he  didn’t  hurry,  knowing  he  needed  to  give
Gordon time to get around the camp and shift.
Finally, Lyle stared down at the camp. The humans had finally managed to get the tiger onto the litter
and were strapping him down. From the subtle shift in Todd’s scent, he realized his little mate was
beginning  to  wake.  Flicking  out  his  tongue,  he  tried  to  figure  out  where  Gordon  could  be,  but  the
gentle breeze blew in the wrong direction.
He surveyed the area, and then slowly made his way through the trees. He watched one human shiver.
He looked up into the branches, surprisingly close to where Lyle moved. Freezing, he waited.
“What’s wrong with you, man? Tie that last strap,” one human said, smacking the arm of the one who
stared into the branches.
“I thought I heard something,” the watcher snapped back.
The  first  looked  up  into  the  trees,  trying  to  follow  his  gaze.  After  a  second  he  said,  “I  don’t  see
anything.” He smacked the other’s arm again. “Hurry up. The sooner we get the tiger tied the sooner
we can get out of here.”
After another couple seconds staring into the trees, the other human dropped his gaze and returned his
focus to his work.
The bugle of an angry elephant startled everyone, including Lyle. He nearly lost his grip on the limb
where  he  perched.  Regaining  his  focus,  he  glanced  in  the  direction  of  the  stomping  creature  before
checking the reaction of the humans below.
“Finish there,” Lemongrass shouted. “I’ll take care of this abomination!”
Lyle just managed to bite back his angry hiss at the altered human’s words, watching as he pulled a
gun  from  a  holster  at  his  hip.  The  other  humans  scrambled  to  obey.  Lyle  tensed,  waiting  for  his
moment, and just as Gordon’s elephant came into view, crashing through the trees, snapping limbs and
breaking  branches,  Lyle  leaped  from  his  own  branch,  launching  himself  at  the  two  humans  still
hovering near Grady.
Pain rocked through his shoulder as he slammed into one man, his two hundred pound body propelling
him to the ground. A grunt and howl of pain erupted from the form beneath him. Lyle rose to his feet,
his claws sinking deep into the human’s chest. Panicked arms flailed at his body, but his thick hide
made  the  blows  ineffective.  Knowing  the  man’s  flight  instinct  would  take  over  as  soon  as  Lyle
released him, Lyle rushed at the other human.
The human screeched, jerking backward from where he’d stood frozen, as if coming out of a stupor.
He reached for a gun at his belt. Before he could lift it, Lyle was on him, his jaws latching onto the
human’s outstretched arm. The bones snapped between his jaws, and the human howled and dropped

the gun. He swung at Lyle’s face, landing a hard blow just below his eye.
Lyle released the man’s arm and hissed, his mouth open and showing off his short, jagged teeth. The
sight  from  one  eye  showed  the  first  human  he’d  attacked  limping  away  and  disappearing  into  the
forest,  confirming  his  hypothesis.  His  other  eye  showed  that  Gordon  had  reached  Lemongrass.  He
saw  the  elephant  swing  his  trunk  and  connect  with  Lemongrass,  sending  him  sailing  across  the
clearing.
Movement from the human in front of him refocused Lyle’s attention. He was drawing a weapon from
behind  his  back.  Before  he  could  aim,  Lyle  pounced  on  him.  Wrapping  his  jaws  around  the  man’s
neck,  he  clamped  down  and  yanked  hard.  Blood  rushed  between  his  teeth,  filling  his  mouth  and
flooding his jaws.
The taste excited him and disgusted him all at the same time. The sound of another dart gun’s release
drew  Lyle’s  attention.  He  released  the  dead  human  from  his  jaws  and  swung  his  head.  He  spotted
Lemongrass  on  the  ground  where  he’d  fallen,  his  gun  still  in  hand.  Gordon’s  heavy  body  shook  the
ground as he stumbled and fell.
Ignoring  the  pain  in  his  shoulder,  he  rushed  across  the  clearing,  growling  and  hissing.  Lemongrass
lifted his gun again, but Lyle leaped sideways, dodging the dart. He swung his massive tail,
Lemongrass slammed into
knocking  the  man’s  chest.  the  dirt  again,  the  weapon  skittering  from  his  grip.  Lyle  rushed  forward,
reared up on his hind legs, and dropped his weight solidly down on Lemongrass, pinning him to the
ground. His jaws gaped as he prepared to latch onto his neck and crush it.
“Lyle, stop!”

Chapter Ten

odd knew he wasn’t dreaming. In fact, he couldn’t have been more proud, because if he had to

guess, Lyle had figured out how to at least sort of accept and control his animal. At least Todd knew
he’d feel proud if he could actually focus for more than two seconds. His head still spun from the
damn drugs the bastard humans injected into him.

Lyle swung his head around to face him, but kept his front legs firmly on Lemongrass’s chest. The

massive lizard hissed, but it didn’t sound quite as aggressive as the sounds Todd had heard a few
minutes ago. It sounded almost questioning. Struggling to his knees, he looked at where his mate
pinned the man who’d almost succeeded in capturing him a second time.
“I’m okay,” he managed to whisper.

He looked around the clearing and spotted Gordon, still in elephant form. He lay on the ground,

but his head was up. The dilation of the shifter’s eyes told Todd that he’d been hit at least once. “You
going to be okay, Gordon?” he asked, knowing the elephant had already had a dangerous reaction
when the foolish scientists had overdosed him on their chemicals.

Relief flooded him when Gordon gave a slow nod. Taking a deep breath, Todd settled on his

hands and knees and crawled toward Grady. He found the tiger still out like a light. Carefully, he
unbuckled the metal straps and removed the one holding down Grady’s head from the litter.

Dragging the short strap, he moved slowly toward the man Lyle still held down. When he saw

Todd coming, Lemongrass began to struggle. Lyle snarled angrily, and the man’s movements stilled.
His eyes widened and his breathing quickened. Todd grinned coldly, knowing it didn’t reach his eyes.
“My alpha will have some questions for you,” he said.

“You won’t get anything from me,” the man sneered, but his voice wavered slightly. The man’s

scent told Todd that Lemongrass feared them.

“We’ll see,” Todd replied, pushing the man’s arms behind his back and tying them together with

the metal strap. He had to admit, the piece of malleable metal was very impressive workmanship. He
wondered where they’d gotten it. Then again, maybe I don’t want to know.

Once he’d secured the man, he leaned back and rubbed his hands over Lyle’s leathery hide. “I

need you to go to Declan’s and get help, handsome.”

He could tell from Lyle’s snarl that he didn’t like that idea, and he swung his head to where the

body of a human sprawled. Todd glanced around, finally realizing that one human was missing. He
grabbed the dart gun Lemongrass had dropped and brandished it in the air. “I’ll be careful. Wolf
hearing is very acute. If someone comes, I’ll know it.”

Lyle snarled again, his gaze swinging between the trussed human and the other human’s body.

Todd rolled his eyes. “We weren’t looking for them. Now I am.” He rubbed Lyle’s head. “Please,
Lyle. You’re the only one that can go. Your animal can find the way.”

After another hiss, the monitor’s large head nuzzled Todd’s chest. Then Lyle turned and

disappeared into the woods. Todd shivered, but he knew it was more to do with almost being caught
again rather than the chill in the air. Still, the desire to find warmth had him once more calling on his
wolf. He prowled around the clearing, grabbing the dart guns with his teeth and setting them next to
Grady’s still sleeping form. Gordon struggled to his feet and crossed to his mate, carefully lying back
down and idly stroking the tiger’s fur with his trunk. Todd lay down beside the pair, working hard to
stay alert and watch their prisoner.

He didn’t know how much time passed, but the sounds of rustling caught his attention. Lifting his

nose, Todd scented the breeze. Relief flooded him as he recognized that his alpha accompanied his
mate. Todd let out a howl, joy filling him when it was returned by three others.

When they appeared in the clearing, led by his mate, Todd recognized Declan’s large brown wolf,

Cliff’s black wolf and Shane’s gray wolf. If he’d had the energy, he would have jumped up to greet
them. Instead, he realized he could barely maintain a sitting position. Lyle crossed to him and rubbed
his head against him. Todd returned the affection wholeheartedly. That is, until his lids began to
droop, the adrenaline that had sustained him depleted. He dropped his head, letting out a sigh.

He listened to Declan order Cliff to take their prisoner to the road. From their conversation, Todd

realized they were only a few hundred feet from an access road used by the forest rangers, and Lark
was bringing Grady’s truck.

Hands running through his fur made him shiver, and Lyle’s scent surrounded him. “Hey, angel,”

Lyle murmured. “How are you holding up?”
Todd whined, rested his head in Lyle’s lap, and let his mate’s soothing touch carry him into sleep.

At first, when consciousness returned, Todd thought they were still in the woods, because his

head still rested on Lyle’s lap and his mate’s fingers still caressed his fur. But then the soft bed
underneath him registered as well as Travis’s scent.

He opened an eye and found the veterinarian leaning over him, ready to insert a needle into his

shoulder.
“Wait,” Lyle commanded softly. “He’s coming around.”
Todd whined before turning his head and licking the hand that stroked him.
Lyle smiled. “Welcome back, angel. I’ve been worried about you.” Then he grimaced. “And Phillip
is  downstairs  ready  to  barge  up  here  and  throttle  me  for  allowing  something  to  happen  to  you,”  he
added ruefully.
If he’d been in human form, Todd would have rolled his eyes. Human form…Todd initiated the shift.
Seconds  later,  naked  and  happy  to  be  alive  and  in  Lyle’s  arms,  he  grinned  up  at  his  mate.  “Thank
you.”
To his surprise, Lyle hissed angrily, the sound very similar to what his animal made. Lyle grabbed the
comforter and pulled it over Todd, hiding him from the other man in the room. Todd forced down his
sigh.
“Eventually, you’ll have to get used to the fact that shifters don’t have much modesty,” Travis pointed
out, even though he took several steps back from the bed.
Todd could hear Lyle force out a breath. “I’m sorry, Travis,” he ground out. “I can’t seem to control
this jealousy sometimes.”
Travis  smirked.  “Well,  Rainy  tells  me  that  the  feeling  never  truly  dissipates,  but  if  you  claim  your
mate it becomes more manageable.”
“That’s something I plan to remedy very shortly,” Lyle snapped.
Todd  blushed  and  opened  his  mouth  to  tell  Lyle  that  he  shouldn’t  feel  pressured  to  claim  him.  He
knew Lyle was still human at heart and needed time, even if it made his wolf whine in sadness.
Travis crossed his arms over his chest and cut him off by asking, “How are you feeling, Todd?”
He took a moment to take stock of his body. The buzzing in his head was gone, so was the lethargy in
his limbs. As a matter of fact, the only thing he felt right now was grateful. “Good. Happy to be here,”
he replied frankly.
“We’re happy you’re here, too,” Travis said, while hefting his travel bag.
Todd held up a hand, making the other man pause. “How are Grady and Gordon?”
Travis smiled. “They’ll be fine. Grady was pumped up with quite a bit more drugs than you, but Lark

is detoxing him. Gordon was hit with a couple darts, and since they weren’t expecting him, it looks
like  they  were  loaded  for  wolf,  not  elephant.  It  was  enough  to  bring  him  down,  but  not  knock  him
out.” The veterinarian smiled. “He’ll be fine, too.”
“Oh,  good,”  Todd  said,  letting  out  a  sigh  of  relief.  Then  he  frowned.  “What  happened  to
Lemongrass?”
“I overheard Lark telling Gordon that Declan and Shane took him to a little used Ranger house deep
in  the  forest.  They’re  interrogating  him.”  He  grimaced.  “Glad  I  don’t  have  to  witness  that,”  he
muttered.
Todd  knew  the  necessity  of  his  alpha’s  actions,  but  he  still  shuddered.  “Yeah,  me  neither,  but  the
information he could give us will be invaluable. We still know so little about them,” he added. Seeing
the veterinarian unable to meet his eyes, Todd forced a smile and changed the subject. “So am I going
to be all right?”
He could hear the relief in Travis’s voice when he said, “I give you a clean bill of health.”
“Good,” Lyle growled, pulling him close.
Travis grinned, winking lasciviously. “I’ll let everyone know you’re fine and need a few minutes. Try
to keep it down. I know how wolves like to howl.”
Lyle barked out a laugh as Travis let himself out of the room. Todd felt heat creep up his neck, and he
glanced up at his mate before focusing on his fingers. “You don’t have to claim me just because…”
He blew out a breath. “We can wait until you’re ready.”
“I’m sorry I blurted it out like that, angel,” Lyle whispered. He settled down on the bed, taking Todd
with him. Tucking his face into the crook of Todd’s neck, he nuzzled the sensitive skin behind his ear.
“I wanted it to be a private moment, not broadcasted amongst the wolves.”
“What  do  you—  What  do  you  mean?”  Todd  managed  to  ask.  He  wrapped  his  arms  around  Lyle’s
neck, sinking his fingers in the man’s hair and tilting his head to give him more access. Teeth nibbled
the tender flesh where his neck met shoulder and Todd’s wolf howled with the desire for its mate to
claim him.
“I mean,” Lyle whispered, “I plan to claim you very shortly, my angel.”
Todd didn’t know if it was the warmth of Lyle’s breath ghosting over the fine hairs on his neck or if it
was  the  man’s  words,  but  a  shudder  rocked  him.  His  cock  filled  so  fast  it  left  him  dizzy,  and  he
moaned.
He could feel Lyle smile against his neck, heard the mirth in his words. “You like the sound of that,
don’t you, Todd?”
“Oh, yes!”
“Good,” Lyle growled.
Suddenly,  Todd  found  himself  on  his  back  with  two  hundred  pounds  of  possessive,  horny  shifter
rutting against him. The pressure of Lyle’s hard shaft against his own felt exquisite, but he loathed the
sleep pants separating them.
He bucked his hips and whined, “Off. Take them off!”
Lyle pulled away and stripped the clothing. Todd heard cloth tearing, and his mate’s hurried actions
told him of Lyle’s excitement, ratcheting up his own need. Climbing back on the bed, Lyle reached up
and  pulled  the  lube  out  of  the  nightstand  and  dropped  it  next  to  Todd’s  hip.  Then  without  warning,
Lyle latched onto one of Todd’s nipples and sucked hard.
The  teeth  nipping  his  flesh  made  his  body  bow  as  he  whimpered  and  tried  to  get  closer  to  that
delicious  heat.  Fingers  wrapped  around  his  other  nipple  and  pinched.  The  dual  sensations  went
straight to his cock, and he could feel a drop of pearly essence drip from the head.

“So  sweet.  So  responsive,”  Lyle  crooned  against  his  flesh.  He  switched  sides,  wrapping  his  lips
around the other bud and placed one hand on the other nipple. Todd had no idea how Lyle did it one
handed  without  seeing,  but  he  heard  the  snap  of  the  lube  bottle  and  then  Lyle’s  other  hand  reached
between his legs. Feeling the cool slick rub over his heated flesh sent a fissure of pleasure through
Todd. He opened his legs wider and bucked his hips, trying to get that finger inside him. Lyle popped
off the nipple he worked and grinned wickedly at Todd. His other hand moved to Todd’s hip and he
held him still while he gently rubbed the wrinkled guardian muscle.
“Oh! Oh, please!” Todd whined, his fingers clutching the sheets as his cock jerked and waved in the
air between them, another drop of pre-cum oozing from his slit.
Instead  of  entering  him,  Lyle  continued  to  torture  his  opening  as  he  bent  down  and  slowly  licked
Todd’s cock from bottom to top like a popsicle, stopping to press his tongue into the slit and dig for
more  juice.  Lyle  wrapped  his  lips  around  just  the  head  and  sucked  gently  as  he  played  with  the
sensitive skin under Todd’s cap with his tongue.
When that finger playing with his ass finally sank into his clenching channel, it immediately zeroed in
on  his  prostate.  The  dual  sensations  were  too  much,  and  Todd’s  balls  pulled  tight.  “Gonna…
gonna…” he tried to warn.
Lyle hummed and sank down on Todd’s cock. His head hit the back of Lyle’s throat, and Lyle lifted
his gaze to stare at Todd through his lashes. Then the bigger man swallowed, massaging the head of
Todd’s dick and it all became too much. Todd threw his head back and howled as his cock pulsed
and shot stream after stream of seed into Lyle’s mouth.
The other man pulled off slightly, swallowing quickly, making certain he didn’t miss a drop. Feeling
Lyle lick him clean left Todd panting. “That was…that was…”
“Just the beginning,” Lyle crooned.
Todd  glanced  down  in  surprise  as  Lyle  began  to  nibble  his  way  down  the  tender  flesh  of  his  inner
thigh. The gentle nips and licks, coupled with the fingers stretching his ass and massaging his prostate
every few strokes had Todd’s cock filling again.
“Play with your nipples, Todd.”
The command in Lyle’s voice had Todd’s wolf rolling to its back in his mind and showing its belly.
He’d  always  loved  a  dominant  lover,  and  to  have  his  mate  know  exactly  what  he  needed  left  him
mentally singing Fate’s praises. Obeying the man, Todd reached up and tweaked his already swollen
buds. Pleasurable pain shot from his chest straight to his cock.
Lyle  must  have  felt  his  hole  spasm  because  he  stopped  where  he  nibbled  the  tender  flesh  behind
Todd’s  knee  and  grinned  up  at  him.  “I  love  how  responsive  you  are,  mate.  I  bet  I  could  make  you
come just by playing with your nipples, couldn’t I? Would you like that?”
Todd’s eyes locked on Lyle as the monitor shifter reared up and leaned over him, giving him a clear
view of Lyle’s dripping cock. He whined, wanting a taste.
Giving him a feral smile, he growled, “Oh, yes. You do like that thought, don’t you?” Todd nodded
absently,  watching  as  Lyle  gripped  his  own  dick  and  started  to  slowly  stroke  it  in  time  with  the
fingers  in  Todd’s  ass.  “I  could  kneel  right  here  and  finger  your  ass.  You’d  lie  there  and  take  it,
because I told you to. Wouldn’t you, Todd?”
He was so turned on he could barely speak. “Yessss,” he hissed.
“Excellent,” Lyle purred. He leaned closer and blew warm air over the head of Todd’s cock. Moving
back again, his dark eyes fixed on Todd’s and he growled, “Come.”
As if he were wired to obey, Todd’s cock erupted. Cum flew from his slit, painting his stomach, chest
and fingers where they still played. Flying so high on endorphins, Todd barely registered when Lyle

pulled his fingers free, lined up his cock, and slammed home in one smooth thrust.
Lyle  didn’t  stop,  but  quickly  pulled  out  and  rammed  back  into  Todd.  “Look  at  me,  angel,”  Lyle
ordered, and Todd obeyed. He wrapped his arms around Lyle and held him tight as the monitor shifter
thrust into him over and over. “You’re mine, Todd. My mate.”
“I’m yours,” Todd croaked out, the hot look in Lyle’s eyes making his spent cock twitch.
Lyle grinned. “I’m going to claim you, Todd. Are you ready?”
Joy  flooded  his  system,  and  his  struggling  dick  filled  again  at  the  thought.  “Please  claim  me,”  he
begged.
Taking him at his word, Lyle wrapped his jaws around the flesh where his neck met shoulder and bit.
More than just canines sank into his flesh, holding him in place as Lyle plunged into his ass over and
over. The extra teeth sent just the right spike of pain through Todd to mix with his pleasure, and his
balls tightened and filled his cock with cum one more time. Howling his joy, Todd erupted again. He
felt  Lyle  follow  him  over  that  edge,  flooding  his  ass  with  his  essence.  He  hummed  his  pleasure  as
spots danced behind his eyes.
Before Lyle had even managed to pull out, Todd smiled and slid into a contented sleep.

Chapter Eleven

yle dozed, letting his mind drift in and out of consciousness. At one point while he was awake, he

nuzzled his face into the nape of Todd’s neck, breathing in the heady scent of his mate. He couldn’t
believe the difference in his animal,

transferred to his own

how satisfied it felt, which comfort. His arms tightened
marginally as he pulled Todd just a bit closer before nodding off again.

A roar of anger jerked Lyle out of his satisfied slumber. Loud noises and raised voices coming

from the main floor had him leaping out of bed and grabbing a pair of jeans from a drawer. His cop
instincts kicked in and he searched for his gun, until he remembered he didn’t have one here. Instead,
he now had an animal.

He remembered the experience in the woods, where he’d had to track down his mate. Reaching

inside himself, he relinquished some control, and seconds later, his monitor talons grew from his
fingers and his tongue flicked out of his mouth, scenting.

A gasp from the bed caught his attention and he turned to find Todd staring at him in shock. For a

second, he wondered if it was revulsion, but then Todd reached out and grabbed his hand. He flipped
it over, staring at it. “That’s amazing, Lyle!” he whispered. “I’ve never seen anything like this!”

Lyle ducked his head and pecked Todd’s lips. “Glad you like it, angel,” he said. “Please stay

here.”
“No way,” Todd snorted, rejecting his  words.  “I’ll  stay  behind  you,  but  don’t  expect  me  to  stay  up
here!”
He  wanted  to  deny  his  mate’s  words  and  lock  him  in  the  bedroom,  but  Lyle  was  smart  enough  to
realize that that would cause nothing but trouble later. Giving a sharp nod, he conceded. “Stay behind
me then.”
He headed out of the room, keeping one eye on his mate until he felt certain Todd would really do as
he said. Angry words echoed through the house. He waved a hand, silently telling Todd to keep low.
He carefully peeked over the ledge, and more words told him that the voices were coming from the
office.
After a glance backwards, he swung over the ledge and dropped lightly to the ground, feeling grateful
for  his  increased  strength  and  agility.  Lyle  rushed  down  the  hall  and  slammed  the  door  open,  his
claws at the ready.
His  gaze  landed  first  on  a  crying  Drake  Whitton,  his  choking  hiccups  making  the  most  noise.
Dismissing the distressed human, he turned and spotted an enraged Doctor Carmichael facing down
Declan. For his part, the alpha wolf kept his temper in check, even as the doctor leaned into his space
and waved a finger in his face.
Both men registered his presence at the same time, and Lyle found himself the recipient of an angry
panther shifter and a frowning wolf shifter. “You!” Ailean roared. “You brought this on us!”
Having no idea of what the other man spoke, he met Ailean’s attack with equal aggression. He ducked
beneath Ailean’s wild punch and slammed his shoulder into the doctor’s midsection, driving him back
with all the power he could muster. He grabbed the arm the other man swung at him, twisted under
and around and pinned it to Ailean’s back. Keeping his grip, he shoved forward and slammed the man
face first into the wall.
He heard Ailean snarl, Drake scream and Todd shout. Lyle stilled, keeping just enough weight on the

doctor to hold him in place. “Your mate saved my life, so I’m giving you the chance to tell me why
the hell you attacked me.”
Suddenly,  he  felt  arms  wrap  around  his  bicep.  Without  loosening  his  hold,  he  found  Drake’s  teary-
eyed gaze. “Please, please don’t hurt him. It’s not his fault. It’s their fault. This is all their fault!”
Still the words made no sense, but Lyle realized they needed to talk. He eased away from Ailean. He
grabbed Todd, who had kept his word and still stood behind him, and pulled him further away from
the pair. “What’s going on?”
Watching warily, he saw Ailean push away from the wall and straighten his shirt before rubbing his
shoulder. “I apologize. Drake is right. This is not your fault.”
“Tell them what’s happened, Ailean,” Declan ordered softly.
Ailean pulled his mate close and tucked his face against his chest. “Drake and I went to Denver to see
his sister.” He smiled sadly. “We both want a family and she’s agreed to carry our child for us.” He
bit back a sob of his own, and Declan folded them into a hug.
“Congratulations,” Declan whispered. “When we get Dagus back, he’ll be just as happy for ye.” He
said. “Ye’ll see.”
The name rang a bell, but Lyle couldn’t remember where he’d heard it before. “Who’s Dagus? And
what the hell happened to him?”
Ailean lifted his head. “When we got home from Denver this morning, we found Kyle Giovanni dead
on the kitchen floor and Dagus gone. This was left on the refrigerator.”
He held out a scrap of paper and Lyle took it. “We have someone you want,” he read, “and you have
someone  we  want.  Bring  Miach  to  our  parking  lot  tomorrow  night.  Ten  o’clock.  No  shifters.  We’ll
trade.”
Everyone  remained  quiet  for  several  seconds.  Lyle’s  jaw  clenched  and  rage  swept  through  him.
“Fucking bloody hell.” He glared at the others in the room. “Who the hell is Miach?”
“They want Lemongrass,” Declan growled. “Somehow they must have found out we’re holding him
prisoner. He must be pretty important to them.”
“There  was  a  third  man  in  the  woods,”  Todd  whispered.  “He  fled  and  didn’t  come  back.  He  must
have reported what happened.”
“I’ll  go.  I’ll  make  the  trade,”  Lyle  declared.  He  saw  several  open  their  mouths  to  protest,  and  he
swiped a hand through the air. “They don’t know that Drake saved my life. They think I’m dead! I’m
the best chance you have. They said no shifters, and they don’t know that I am one.”
After several long moments of silence, he became aware of Todd trembling at his side. Lyle turned to
find his mate’s worried eyes fixed on him. “I just found you,” Todd whispered. “I don’t want anything
to happen to you.”
Lyle smiled and kissed him, slow, deep, and tender. “Nothing will happen to me. Nothing will keep
me from returning to your arms.”
Todd gave him a small smile and whispered, “I’m going to hold you to that.”
After a second of nuzzling, Declan  cleared  his  throat.  “I  don’t  bloody  care  what  that  note  says.  Me
pack  will  expect  blood  compensation  for  the  loss  of  their  brother.  We  will  have  shifters  close  at
hand.” Drake opened his mouth to protest, but Declan’s wolf-like snarl had him snapping it shut. “Ye
don’t think we know how to be quiet, Drake? No one will even know we’re there!”

Lyle took the vest from Grady and wrapped it around him. “Don’t do anything foolish,” his

partner growled.
He grinned. “You know me.”
“Exactly,” Grady snarled.

Lyle smiled. “Don’t worry. Between me, my monitor and this vest we’ll be just fine.” He rapped his
knuckles on the hard plates. “See? No darts or bullets to the chest. They’re not expecting anything but
a human. Besides,” he added, smirking, “you always back me up.”
Grady’s frown and sigh surprised Lyle. Concern filled the big tiger’s eyes when he lifted his gaze. “I
failed you once. It won’t happen again, old friend,” Grady vowed.
Realization set in and Lyle pulled Grady into a tight hug. “Relax, big man,” he grunted. “That wasn’t
your fault. We’ll make these fuckers pay.” He could hear the hiss take over his voice, but did nothing
to stop it. He knew his animal needed to express its irritation, and this was a safe way to do it.
Pulling back, he zipped up the vest, pulled his jacket over it, and headed to his car. In the back seat of
the Toyota Corolla, he could just make out the form of Miach Barolla. Lyle settled into the driver’s
seat  and  inhaled.  “Lemongrass,”  he  muttered.  He  knew  the  man  had  undergone  experiments,  but  he
wondered if that was his original scent or if he’d acquired it after whatever tests he’d endured.
He  looked  into  the  rearview  mirror  and  grinned.  “You  know  what  they’ve  done  to  us  if  far  more
inhuman than anything shifters have done to humans, right?”
For a second the man’s eyes widened in shock, but then he regained his composure and sneered. “You
don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. These creatures are abominations.”
Unwilling to give anything away, he just shook his head. “They’ve lied to you, Miach. I’m sorry.”
Without waiting for a reply, Lyle shoved the car into drive and slammed on the gas. It took just long
enough to get to the Crystal Lake Corporation’s building for his adrenaline to kick in full force. He
followed Drake’s directions and rolled into the parking lot, parking as close to the road as possible.
He wished for more trees as he slid from the vehicle, recognizing his monitor’s desire for cover. He
shared the sentiment. Shoving the thoughts away, he rounded the car, yanked open the back door, and
helped Miach from the vehicle. “Let’s get this over with,” he grunted.
Lyle placed a hand on Miach’s back and pushed him forward firmly, keeping a step behind the altered
human. He’d heard about the man’s healing abilities, and didn’t want to give the man the chance to
show off increased speed or strength. He paused halfway across the parking lot and grabbed the chain
between the man’s cuffed hands.
“Hold up. Let’s wait for your friends, shall we?”
His captive grunted. He glared over his shoulder at him. “Why do you care about these beasts? They
should all be exterminated.”
“Why? Because they’re different?” Lyle asked curiously. What lies have been told to this man?
“Because they’re a danger to the population,” he sneered.
Lyle barked out a laugh. “No they’re not. For the most part they keep to themselves and leave humans
alone. Your bosses have killed far more shifters over the years than shifters have killed humans,” he
pointed  out.  “How  is  what  these  scientists  are  doing  any  different  than  when  the  German’s
experimented on Jews in concentration camps?”
He couldn’t tell from the frown on the man’s face if Miach was actually thinking about his words. He
didn’t  suppose  it  mattered  anyway.  The  guy  would  disappear  back  into  the  scientist’s  organization
soon enough.
“Come closer!” a voice called from the darkness.
“No. You come into the light.”
Lyle waited for several heartbeats and then two figures shuffled from the dark shadows to the left of
the building. He watched Dagus stumble, but the man holding a gun caught him before he could fall.
Lyle  frowned,  confused  by  the  way  the  man  cocked  his  head  and  stared  at  the  sky,  but  then  he
remembered what Drake had told him. His brother was blind. Dagus was focused on listening. Lyle

wanted to tear the scientist apart for involving someone who couldn’t even defend himself.
“Well, well, well. Detective Lyle Sullivan. So you managed to survive after all,” the man sneered.
“When you escaped and we couldn’t find where you’d gone, we were sure you’d crawled into a hole
and died. You certainly were close enough to it.”
“No  thanks  to  you,”  Lyle  snarled,  realizing  this  man  must  be  one  of  the scientists.  With  a  thickly
muscled body, military cut dark hair, and a coldly calculating gleam in his eyes, Lyle thought he might
remember the man, but he’d have to get closer to see the guy’s face better.
“So what did you end up with? Increased healing and strength like Miach, there? Increased speed or
agility?”
Unwilling  to  draw  this  out,  and  needing  to  get  away  from  the  human  before  he  did  something  to
endanger Dagus Lyle growled, “Release Dagus.”
“No, I don’t think I will,” the man drawled, a gun appearing over Dagus’s shoulder. “I want to see
what my experiments have created.”
The dart hit Lyle’s leg before his brain even registered the weapon. A heavy lethargy swept up his
limb, spreading out like spider’s threads from the location of the wound. “Oh, hell no!” Lyle snarled.
His  animal  hissed  angrily  inside  his  mind,  and  Lyle  agreed.  The  change  came  quickly,  his  clothes
tearing from his expanding form, and seconds later he found himself running swiftly across the twenty
yards separating them.
As he passed Miach, he swung his powerful tail and sent the other man flying back toward the car.
The scientist shoved Dagus to the side. The blind man tried to flail his arms to catch his balance, but
the rope around his wrists hindered him and he went down hard. Lyle hissed angrily at the poor man’s
treatment.  He  lunged  forward  the  last  stride  as  the  guy  tried  to  reload  his  gun,  and  he  clamped  his
jaws around the scientist’s neck.
The unmistakable crack of a rifle shattered his concentration, and agony exploded through his back.
Lyle jerked his head up and hissed out his pain to the dark shadows around them. He swung his long
neck around and stared at the oozing bullet hole that was dangerously close to his spine. Struggling to
control the hurt, he returned his focus to the man he pinned and realized the unexpected move had torn
out the scientist’s throat, but Lyle couldn’t drum up any remorse.
Howls  exploded  through  the  night,  and  Lyle  knew  the  cavalry  was  coming.  He  struggled  toward
Dagus. The human lay on his side, curled up in a fetal position. Before Lyle could drag his bleeding,
drugged body to the man, two men materialized from the darkness.
“Take him back inside,” the one with the gun ordered, pointing at Drake’s brother.
Lyle snarled and redoubled his efforts to drag himself to Dagus, desperate to protect the human. But
when the man leveled the gun on him, Lyle froze, knowing he couldn’t help Dagus if he were dead.
Anger poured through him, mostly at himself for underestimating these guys. They were obviously far
more organized than what he’d given them credit for.
“Don’t worry, Lyle,” the man said conversationally as he moved closer. “We don’t want you again.
Doctor Remus made too many mistakes with you, obviously. We certainly don’t want to make more
abominations,” he sneered. “You’ll have to turn human if you want any last words.”
Knowing he’d almost immediately succumb to darkness if he returned to his human form right now,
Lyle just hissed again as he watched the other guy toss a sobbing Dagus over his shoulder, impressive
really since Drake’s brother was taller and much more muscular. The fact that the man carrying Dagus
must also be altered flitted through Lyle’s drugged mind.
“Very well,” the gunman said, pointing the barrel at his head. “I’d much rather be inside before your
friends arrive.”

Lyle made one last effort and lunged forward, unwilling to just lie down and die. He had too much to
live for. But he fell short, his legs giving out. As the gunman laughed coldly, Lyle’s thoughts turned to
Todd, and he prayed Declan would care for his mate. For several long seconds he relived every
touch, every caress from his angel.
“It’s too late for escape.”
Lyle recognized the deep voice, and he opened eyes that he didn’t even realize he’d closed. Carson
held the struggling human in a choke hold. As the Native American’s dark eyes met Lyle’s over the
human’s shoulder, a chill went up Lyle’s spine, and he prayed he never ended up on the wrong side of
the wolf enforcer.
An audible snap sent a shiver of a different sort through Lyle as he watched Carson break the human’s
neck. With a last look of disdain, Carson released the body, ignoring it as it crumpled to the ground.
Instead he crossed to Lyle and knelt next to him. “This plan is shot to hell. Shift so I can get us out of
here. I may be stronger than a human, but even I can’t carry your lizard ass.
Trusting Carson to take care of him, Lyle willed his body to shift. Just as he’d feared, once the shift
was complete, darkness swamped him and he succumbed to unconsciousness.

Lyle smiled, enjoying the sensation of Todd running his fingers through his hair. “So nice,” he

whispered, surprised by how dry his throat was. And then why he lay in bed, again, came back to him
and he jerked his head around and shouted, “Dagus!”

Pain shot up his back and he froze. “Shit.”

“Lie still,” Todd ordered softly, carefully holding him in place on his side. “Take deep breaths and
the pain will pass.”
He followed his mate’s advice and slowly the pain seeped from him. This time he didn’t move as he
asked, “Did the wolves get to Dagus before he was taken back into the building?”
“I’m afraid not,” Todd replied. “We barely managed to keep Miach from getting away, too.” Todd
lowered himself so he was in Lyle’s line of sight. “And if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will
smack you,” he vowed.
“He shot me in the leg. They’d always targeted the chest before.” From the look on Todd’s face, he
knew his mate wasn’t interested in excuses. “You’re right. No more oneman rescue attempts. After all
my years on the force, I should have known better.”
“Yes, you should have. Just because you’re a shifter now, it doesn’t mean you’re invincible. We run
in packs for a reason,” Todd scolded.
Lyle hazarded a nod, pleased that it didn’t send fresh waves of agony through him. “You’re right, my
angel.”
A soft knock on the door caught their attention and Todd called, “Come in.”
Declan entered, followed by Lark. “I’m getting tired of seeing you in here like this,” Lark ribbed
gently.
Lyle smiled slightly. “My mate just read me the riot act. I don’t need it from you, too.”
“Then stop doing this to yourself and I won’t have to,” Lark returned.
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Lyle assured. “No more heroics from me.”
“Does that mean ye don’t want to be part of Dagus’s rescue party?” Declan asked, crossing his arms
over his chest and watching as Lark went about checking Lyle’s wound.
“When are you going in? Will I be well enough?” His gaze shifted between the two men, wondering
what Lark’s small nod at Declan meant.
Declan’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Lark seems to think ye will be. Carson is checking the building
out. It’s not too big, but it appears to have impressive security. It could take a couple days to figure

out a way inside.” He paused a second, a pained expression crossing his face. “The funeral for Kyle
is tomorrow evening. We’ll prepare a plan of attack the day after.”
“I hope Dagus can last that long,” Todd whispered.
“He didn’t appear injured,” Lyle commented. “I didn’t see any needle marks or anything, so maybe
because he’s blind they’re just keeping him as a bargaining chip. We do still have Miach, after all.”
Declan  nodded.  “We’re  keeping  Drake  as  comfortable  as  possible,  but  he’s  pretty  stressed  out.
There’s not much more we can do right now.”
Lyle grimaced. “I’m sorry I failed.”
For a second Declan looked like he may say something, but then he just gave a curt nod and left the
room. Lyle looked toward Lark, hoping he could explain. Lark sighed. “He’s not upset with you, nor
does he blame you. He hates when someone outwits him, not to mention losing someone in his pack,
especially when on an assignment. Kyle didn’t have a mate, but he does have a sister. Comforting her
is taking a lot out of him.”
Lark patted his shoulder. “Your shifter healing means if you stay in bed, you’ll be good as new in a
couple days. Get some rest.”
After Lark left, Lyle held up a hand to Todd. “Lay with me. I want to hold you.” Todd looked over his
body, clearly uncertain. “Please,” Lyle pleaded.
Lyle shifted back on the bed as Todd carefully climbed on next to him. Todd lay on his back, and Lyle
draped  over  him,  keeping  any  pressure  off  his  back.  He  rested  his  head  on  his  mate’s  chest  and
inhaled the smaller man’s wonderful scent. Taking Todd’s hand in his, he gave it a squeeze. “I thought
I was going to die,” he finally admitted.
“But you didn’t,” Todd whispered.
“No, I didn’t,” he said. “But at the time, you were all I could think about. All I wanted was to find a
way  back  to  you.”  Lyle  turned  his  head  and  stared  into  Todd’s  gorgeous  brown  eyes.  “You’re  my
guardian angel, even when you’re not there. I love you so much, Todd.”
Todd  smiled  down  at  him,  the  warmth  in  his  eyes.  “I  will  forever  be  in  Carson’s  debt,  because  he
brought you back to me. I love you, too, Lyle.”
Lyle let out a breath and allowed his body to relax. “Good, angel. That’s good.”
He felt Todd press a kiss to his forehead and smiled.
“I still plan to help get Dagus back,” he muttered.
“I’d expect nothing less,” Todd replied softly. “They are our friends, and our pack. Now, get some
sleep,  handsome. You’ll  be  fine  soon  enough,  and  then  I  plan  to  remind  you  of  all  the  reasons  you
should stay healthy.”
Chuckling,  Lyle  nodded.  “That  sounds  fantastic.”  Safe  in  the  arms  of  his  angel  and  secure  in  the
knowledge of Todd’s love, Lyle fell asleep.

About the Author

Charlie lives on a mini ranchette in Utah with her handsome, supportive husband. She started

writing fantasy when she was eight, and after stumbling onto her first erotic romance at nineteen, she
realized her true calling. She now focuses on writing erotic romance, often of the paranormal variety,
with heroes and heroines of all kinds. You can often find her curled up with her laptop and a cup of
tea or glass of wine, creating her next story, which could pair a sexy hero with an adventurous
heroine…or maybe with another handsome hero. Charlie enjoys horseback riding, jump lessons with
Apache, watching movies with her husband, and listening to her muse tell her about her next project.

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